


Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V Shipping Collection

by FableWriteworth



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: AUs Are Everywhere, Arc-V Shipping Collection, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Shippings Are In Alphabetic Order, Some chapters can be seen as platonic love, Using dub names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 31,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FableWriteworth/pseuds/FableWriteworth
Summary: The Arc-V Shipping Collection is back! With a vengeance! (Basically doing a one shot for every shipping in the Arc-V Shipping List. Some are good, others are bad, but most of them are mediocre.) *Updates every Friday*
Relationships: Aceshipping, Akaba Ray/Sakaki Yuya, Akaba Reiji/Kurosaki Ruri, Akaba Reiji/Kurosaki Ruri & Kurosaki Shun, Alterationshipping, Amazonesshipping, Amethyshipping, Ametrineshipping, Announcershipping, Antiheroshipping, Apparitionshipping - Relationship, Appleshipping - Relationship, Artemishipping, Asraishipping, Astrologyshipping, Astroshipping - Relationship, Athenashipping, Attendshipping, Aurorashipping, Bambooshipping - Relationship, Bardshipping, Beamshipping, Birdcageshipping, Bittersweetshipping - Relationship, Blackbirdshipping, Blinkshipping, Blizzardshipping, Bluemoonshipping, Crow Hogan/Kurosaki Shun, Crow Hogan/Serena, Edo Phoenix | Aster Phoenix/Tenjou Kaito, Gloria Tyler & Grace Tyler, Gloria Tyler & Selena, Gloria Tyler/Selena, Gongenzaka Noboru & Hiiragi Yuzu & Sakaki Yuya, Gongenzaka Noboru/Hiiragi Yuzu/Sakaki Yuya, Hiiragi Yuzu/Sakaki Yuya/Yugo, Iggy Arlo/Yuya Sakaki, Kachidoki Isao/Sakaki Yuya, Koutsu Masumi & Shijima Hokuto & Toudou Yaiba, Koutsu Masumi/Shijima Hokuto/Toudou Yaiba, Kurosaki Shun/Rin, Kurosaki Shun/Sakaki Yuya/Shiunin Sora, Kurosaki Shun/Sakaki Yuya/Yuto, Melissa Claire/Nico Smiley, Rin/Yugo (Yu-Gi-Oh), Sakaki Yuya/Yuri/Selena, Sasayama Sayaka/Selena, Sawatari Shingo/Kurosaki Ruri, Selena/Rin, Selena/Tsukikage, Serena/Shijima Hokuto, Shijima Hokuto/Hochun Mieru, Yugo/Shinji
Kudos: 3





	1. For Our Future

**Author's Note:**

> (This Collection is cross-posted from Fanfiction.net and Quotev.com.)
> 
> (I use dub over sub names.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Aceshipping (Julia Krystal x Kit Blade x Dipper O'rion)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because they are the aces of their respective fields at LDS.

"Julia! Julia, wait!" Zuzu shouted after her, but she didn't stop nor slow down. The first attack from the Fusion Dimension had struck. It came with no warning and the city was already in a state of panic within the first few minutes. All the Lancers regrouped at LDS, but Kit didn't show up. Declan went on with the meeting anyway, even though they were already down a member.

It turns out that the reason why Kit wasn't here was because the first attack had been located near the west side of town. The area where Kit lived. Memories of seeing Dipper's card flash through her mind. Julia's feet were moving before she could even collect her thoughts. Despite how dangerous it was she raced out into the streets and headed straight for the destruction.

Around her people screamed and buildings fell. She had gotten shoved by terrified civilians but she pushed forward. She had to make sure Kit was okay! They already lost Dipper! She couldn't lose him too!

She found him and her heart froze in her chest.

"Alright, Triple Ancient Gear Hunting Hound! Finish him off!"

"KIT!" She scream. The boy had his back to her, but when he hear his name he glance back. He didn't look afraid even though he knew the price for defeat. Julia swears she could have seen his lips twitch up into a smile and he mouth something to her, but it was all lost as his body was replace with a purple light and vanished.

Julia felt like she couldn't breathe as the masked invader pulled the card from his duel disk and fanned it like a polaroid picture.

"Friend of your's?" He asked, holding up the picture. There, in the frame, was Kit.

"Give him to me!" Julia order, taking a step forward. "Now!"

"Oh, yeah, sure. You can have him." The Obelisk member said, tucking the card back into his pocket. "If you can beat us in a duel." He activated his duel disk. Beside him, two more members joined. "But I feel inclined to warn you that the stakes in this duel are pretty high." Julia activated her own duel disk.

"I'll make you all pay!" Julia growled, adrenaline flowing through her veins, rage clouding her mind.

"Let's duel!" They all shouted together.

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 1]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Julia: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

* * *

"I'll make the first move, and I'm going to summon my Gem-Tortoise **(ATK: 1700, LV: 4)**!" An brown, tortoise-like duel spirit appeared, orange gems sparkling. "When Gem-Tortoise is Normal Summoned I can add another Gem-Knight monster from my deck to my hand!" Julia searched through her deck until she found the card she was looking for and put it in her hand.

"Now it's my turn!" The Red member smirked as he drew a card. "First I'm going to summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound **(ATK: 1000, LV: 3)**!" A mechanical bulldog jump onto the field. Julia readied herself. Shay had told them that the Obelisk Force used an Ancient Gear deck and relied on their Hunting Hounds. "And now I activate its effect! Since you control a monster, Hunting Hound is allowed to inflict 600 points of damage to you! Go, Canine Cannon!" The hound opened its mouth and flames erupted from it. The flames were so close, Julia could have sworn it singed the tips of her hair.

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 2]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Julia: (4000 - 600) = 3400 LP [Hand: 5]**

* * *

"Next I activate the Field Spell, Hunting Hound Doghouse!" On their side of the field a white fenced in yard appeared. In the background Julia could make out a simple house with a very large metal dog house in the corner with an equally as large dog bowl. "I end my turn."

"Why stop at one when I can summon another hound to join the pack?! Come forth, Ancient Gear Hunting Hound **(ATK: 1000, LV: 3)**!" The Green member says. Julia winces as another hound was brought to the field. She needed an Action Card. She raced for one that was beneath a car, but the Action Spell wasn't one she could use.

"Don't bother!" The Green member snickered. "With our Field Spell, if we control a Ancient Gear monster, you can't activate Spells or Traps during our turn or even target our monsters! Now fire, Canine Canon!"

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 3]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: 4000 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Julia: (3400 - 600) = 2800 LP [Hand: 5] [AC: 1]**

* * *

"You were a fool to challenge us so openly! Now we're going to unleash the whole pack's wrath on you! I summon another Hunting Hound to the field **(ATK: 1000, LV: 3)**!" A third Hunting Hound appeared on the field, snarling. "Let's burn away some more of her life points! Canine Canon!"

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: 4000 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Julia: (2800 - 600) = 2200 LP [Hand: 5] [AC: 1]**

* * *

"And that's not all I'm doing, I activate the Spell, Ancient Gear Howl! Since I didn't declare an attack this turn, you take an extra 600 damage for each Ancient Gear monster that is on the field. We have 3, so that's 1800 points of damage!" The three hounds began to howl in unison, causing Julia to cover her ears at the shrill noise.

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: 4000 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 4000 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Julia: (2200 - 1800) = 400 LP [Hand: 5] [AC: 1]**

* * *

Julia slowly stood up as the Blue member ended his turn with a face down.

"Face it, kid. You're as good as gone." The Red one spoke.

"Yeah. Maybe if you beg we'll end this duel quickly and make your carding short." The Green one added.

"That's the deal with people these days." The Blue one shrugged. "Always looking for revenge. If your friend had just chosen to hide like a rat, then maybe he would have manage to see another day." Julia's red eyes burn with hatred. She was going to make these three eat their words. She placed a hand on her deck.

"My move! I draw!" Julia knew she had the right cards in her hand. "I set the Pendulum Scale with Scale 2 Gem-Knight Tanzanite and Scale 8 Gem-Knight Beryl!" Two Gem-Knights appeared in her Pendulum Zones. "Now I can summon monsters between Levels 3 and 7! Rock of judgment and long life! Stone of happiness and sincerity! Swing the Pendulum of my soul! I Pendulum Summon! Gem-Knight Alexandrite **(ATK: 1800, LV: 4)**! Gem-Knight Garnet **(ATK: 1900, LV: 4)**! And Gem-Knight Amber **(ATK: 1600, LV: 4)**!"

"So this is the famous Pendulum Summon we've heard so much about." The Blue member said.

"Honestly, not that impressed." Green shrugged.

"Oh, trust me. I'm not aiming to impress." Julia said coldly. "I activate Gem-Knight Tanzanite's pendulum effect! Since I Special Summoned a Gem- monster to my field, I can send my Gem-Knight Fusion card from my hand to the Graveyard and draw 1 card!"

"A Fusion card? So you're a Fusion user like us?"

"I'm **nothing** like you. And I never will be. I use my deck for the good of all the dimensions." Julia said as she drew another card.

"What do you think we're doing? We're uniting the dimensions under one rule for the good of all of them!"

"Synchro? Xyz? Standard? Even Pendulum! They are all worthless in the face of Fusion!"

"You may claim that you stand for all dimensions, yet you only use the power of Fusion and Pendulum!" Julia looks at the final card she has in her hand and smirks.

"You couldn't be more wrong." That wiped the smiles off their faces.

"What are you talking about?"

"I activate the Spell, Absorb Fusion! When this card activates I get to add 1 Gem-Knight card from my deck to my hand and then I can Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by banishing its materials from my hand or field. I fuse my Gem-Tortoise with my Gem-Knight Lazuli!"

**_"Green gem that hides mysterious power! Gem beast with an impenetrable shell! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! I Fusion Summon! Level 8! Gem-Knight Zirconia_ (ATK: 2900, LV: 8) _!"_**

A giant knight with blue gem mallets for arms charges out of the Fusion Vortex.

"You activated my Trap, Dimensional Disruption! Since you brought a Fusion Monster out onto your field, you can't bring out a monster of the same type!"

"Which means you can't Fusion Summon anymore!"

"Oh, and did I forgot to mention that your monster's effects are negated?" The Trap card began to send out odd waves that force Zirconia to take a knee.

"Still think you have a chance against us?"

"Now I activate Gem-Knight Beryl's pendulum effect, allowing me to add my banished Gem-Tortoise back to my hand. I Normal Summon him back to the field and because of this I'm allowed to add another Gem-Knight monster to my hand."

"H-hey! Did you hear us?!" Julia chose to keep ignoring. She grab the card that she wanted from her deck. Her eyes flicker over to her Alexandrite and Amber.

 _"If you can learn Xyz from watching Dipper, then you can learn Synchro from watching me. Right?"_ Kit's voice echoes at her.

"I overlay my two Level 4 Alexandrite and Amber!"

"W-what?!"

"She's overlaying them?!"

"She can Xyz Summon?!" Julia thought back to Dipper. The excitement in his eyes when she showed him her new Xyz Monster.

_"Xyz and Fusion! Now you're going to be unstoppable!"_

_"Oh? Are you actually admitting that I have better skills than you?"_ Julia mocked, causing Dipper to blush.

 _"W-what?! Of course not! You only know how to Xyz Summon because of my excellent teachings!"_ This cause Julia and Kit to chuckle as Dipper pouted. Those were simpler times back then.

**_"Gem with facets of day and night! Grand knight of protection and luck! In a shining network, overlay to bring forth a new stellar brilliance! I Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gem-Knight Pearl_ (ATK: 2600, RANK: 4) _!"_**

A pale warrior appeared from the network, wearing all white armor. Its massive arms crossed over its chest.

"N-no way!"

"Hold your ground! She can't take out all three of us!" Julia points her last card at the trio.

"Hold onto those words, because I'm about to make you choke on them. Since I control only Gem-Knight monsters, I can Special Summon the Tuner monster, Gem-Knight Peridot **(ATK: 500, LV: 2)**!"

"A Tuner monster?!"

"I tune my Level 2 Peridot with my Level 4 Tortoise and Level 4 Garnet!" Julia took a breath as her Peridot transform into two Synchro Gates.

**_"Evening emerald of strength! Gem beast with an impenetrable shell! Mesmerizing stone of living fire! In the harmonizing realm, bring forth a new sparkling flare! I Synchro Summon! Level 10! Gem-Knight Fluorite_ (ATK: 3000, LV: 10) _!"_**

A new Gem-Knight appeared, wielding a large axe on one shoulder and dressed in blue armor. The Obelisk Force couldn't believe their eyes. Pendulum, Fusion, Xyz, and now Synchro.

"And I'm still not done. I activate Fluorite's first effect! When he's Synchro Summoned all Spell and Trap cards on your side of the field have their effects negated, including your Dimensional Disruption."

"T-this is bad!"

"You're telling me!"

"Hey, l-let's talk about this!"

"Save it!" Julia snarls. "I activate the Graveyard effect of my Gem-Knight Fusion. By banishing Gem-Knight Garnet, I can return it directly to my hand! Next, I activate my Fluorite's second effect! Since I added a card to my hand outside of my Draw Phase, I can Special Summon up to 2 banish Gem-Knight monsters so I'm bringing back Gem-Knight Lazuil **(ATK: 600, LV: 1)** and Gem-Knight Garnet **(ATK: 1900, LV: 4)**!" The two Gem-Knights appeared back onto the field via the Graveyard Portal.

"Now I activate my Gem-Knight Fusion, and thanks to Fluorite's ability, your Dimensional Disruption doesn't affect my Fusions anymore. I fuse my Gem-Knight Zirconia with my Gem-Knight Lazuil and Garnet!"

**_"Green gem that hides mysterious power! Join the red fire of truth and the fusion of prosperity and honor! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! I Fusion Summon! Level 10! Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond_ (ATK: 3400, LV: 10) _!"_**

"These are my true ace monsters." Julia stated as her lady stood between the other two Gem-Knights.

"3400 attack?!"

"Now my Gem-Knights, attack their hounds! Send them back to the dog house!"

"No!"

"Ahhh!"

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: (4000 - 1600) = 2400 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: (4000 - 2000) = 2000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: (4000 - 2400) = 1600 LP [Hand: 3]**

**Julia: 400 LP [Hand: 0] [AC: 1]**

* * *

"I...I'll admit. You're strong, but-"

"I activate the Continuous Action Spell, Lancer Strike. By returning a Spell Card from my hand or field to my deck, one of my monsters can attack again."

"But you don't have any Spell Cards! Your hand is empty and so is your back row!"

"When my Pendulum Monsters are in their Pendulum Zones, they count as Spell cards instead of monsters."

"What?!"

"This is bad!"

"I return both Gem-Knight Tanzanite and Gem-Knight Beryl to my deck, allowing my Fluorite and Pearl to attack again."

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Red: (2400 - 2600) = 0 LP [Hand: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Green: (2000 - 3000) = 0 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: 1600 LP [Hand: 3]**

**Julia: 400 LP [Hand: 0] [AC: 0]**

* * *

Julia took a threatening step forward as the Red and Green Obelisk members were blown back. After their life points hit 0, their duel disks began flashing before a strange glow surrounded their bodies. They then disappeared, leaving their comrade behind. The blue member looked up at her. Even though his eyes were covered, Julia could see the true fear in his eyes.

"P-please...don't..." Julia held her hand out.

"Give. Me. Him." The blue invader shakingly, reached into his pocket and pulled out the card. Julia snatch it from him, staring at the picture. The more she stared at it, the more her anger returned. First Dipper, and now Kit. She turned around and began walking back towards her monsters.

"A-are you going...t-to let me go?" He whisper meekly. Julia pauses. She knew what Zuzu would say to her if she was here. But she wasn't here.

"I activate the second effect of Lancer Strike. By sending it to the Graveyard, a monster I control can attack again. I choose my Lady Brilliant Diamond." She glance sideways at her ace monster. "Attack." She rush forward, sword in hand.

"Nooooo! Gahh!"

* * *

** Obelisk Force vs. Julia **

**Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 4]**

**Obelisk Force Member Blue: (1600 - 3400) = 0 LP [Hand: 3]**

**Julia: 400 LP [Hand: 0] [AC: 0]**

**Outcome: Julia (Winner)**

* * *

The invader disappears and so does the Action Field and monsters. She looked back down at the card she held in her hand and then took out Dipper's card that she also carried with her. Avenging Kit had lowered her boiling rage, but not by much.

She could still very much hear the screams of her people as they cried out in fear and terror at the intruders. But she could also hear the triumphed shouts of her teammates, the Lancers, as they fought back. Their dimension wasn't going down without a fight. She should probably regroup with them so that they could push back the invading force further.

Julia carefully tuck the two cards back into her pocket.

_"Kit...Dipper...don't worry. I'll fight in this war, and we'll win this war. And then...I'll find a way to bring you both back. You and everyone else. This I swear."_

* * *

> ** Cards Used In Duels **
> 
> **RL= Real Life Version**
> 
> **OC = Fan Created**
> 
> **Anime = Anime Version**
> 
> ** [Obelisk Force vs. Julia] **

** Obelisk Force **

[Anime] [Name: Ancient Gear Hunting Hound] [Type: Machine / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 3] [ATK/DEF: 1000/1000] [Effect: If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. Once per turn, if your opponent controls a monster: You can inflict 600 damage to your opponent. If you control another "Ancient Gear" monster: You can Fusion Summon 1 Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or field as Fusion Materials.]

[OC] [Name: Hunting Hound Doghouse] [Type: Field Spell] [Effect: If you control an "Ancient Gear" monster, your opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards during your turn or target "Ancient Gear" monsters you control with card effects.]

[OC] [Name: Ancient Gear Howl] [Type: Normal Spell] [Effect: If you didn't declare an attack this turn, you can inflict 600 points of damage to your opponent for every "Ancient Gear" monster that is on the field.]

[OC] [Name: Dimensional Disruption] [Type: Continuous Trap] [Effect: If your opponent Special Summons a monster from the Extra Deck, you can negate the effects of that monster and your opponent can no longer Special Summon monsters with the same card type from the Extra Deck.]

** Julia **

[OC] [Name: Gem-Tortoise] [Type: Rock / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1700/500] [Effect: This card is always treated as a "Gem-Knight" monster. When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Gem-Knight" monster from your Deck to your hand.]

[OC] [Name: Gem-Knight Tanzanite] [Type: Aqua / Pendulum / Normal] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1000/2000] [Text: This caterer of stone uses his calming Pendulum to bring much needed supplies to the Gem-Knight army.] [Pendulum Scale: 2] [Pendulum Effect: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except for EARTH monsters. This effect cannot be negated. If your Normal or Special Summon a "Gem-" monster(s): You can send 1 "Gem-Knight Fusion" from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard, and if you do, draw 1 card. You can only use this effect of "Gem-Knight Tanzanite" once per turn.]

[OC] [Name: Gem-Knight Beryl] [Type: Thunder / Pendulum / Normal] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1200/1600] [Text: With his iconic Beryl gem affixed to a Pendulum, he swings into the battlefield to support his comrades.] [Pendulum Scale: 8] [Pendulum Effect: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except for EARTH monsters. This effect cannot be negated. If you Fusion Summon a "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monster: You can target 1 of your banished "Gem-Knight" monsters; add that target to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Gem-Knight Beryl" once per turn.]

(Special thanks to Flackenstien on Pojo .biz for creating these two Gem-Knight Pendulum Monsters.)

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Alexandrite] [Type: Rock / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1800/1200] [Effect: You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 1 "Gem-Knight" Normal Monster from your Deck.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Garnet] [Type: Pyro / Normal] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1900/0] [Text: The Gem-Knight Warrior who carries the Garnet Soul. His Flaming Iron Fist crushes all enemies.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Amber] [Type: Thunder / Gemini / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 4] [ATK/DEF: 1600/1400] [Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect.

\- Once per turn: You can send 1 "Gem-Knight" card from your hand to the Graveyard to target 1 of your banished monsters; add that target to your hand.]

[RL] [Name: Absorb Fusion] [Type: Normal Spell] [Effect: Add 1 "Gem-Knight" card from your Deck to your hand, then you can apply this effect.

\- Fusion Summon 1 "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials listed on it from your hand or your side of the field. You can only activate 1 "Absorb Fusion" per turn. You cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this card, except "Gem-Knight" monsters.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Zirconia] [Type: Rock / Fusion] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 8] [ATK/DEF: 2900/2500] [Summoning Conditions: 1 "Gem-Knight" monster + 1 Rock-Type monster]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Pearl] [Type: Rock / Xyz] [Attribute: EARTH] [Rank: 4] [ATK/DEF: 2600/1900] [Summoning Conditions: 2 Level 4 monsters]

[OC] [Name: Gem-Knight Peridot] [Type: Rock / Tuner / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 2] [ATK/DEF: 500/500] [Effect: If you control only "Gem-Knight" monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. You can only summon "Gem-Knight Peridot" once per turn this way.]

[OC] [Name: Gem-Knight Fluorite] [Type: Rock / Synchro / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 10] [ATK/DEF: 3000/2500] [Summoning Conditions: 1 "Gem-" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters] [Effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned: All Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls have their effects negated while this card is face-up on the field. If you add a card to your hand, except during your Draw Phase, you can Special Summon up to 2 banished "Gem-Knight" monsters to your field. You can only use this effect once per turn.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Fusion] [Type: Normal Spell] [Effect: Fusion Summon 1 "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion Materials. If this card is in your Graveyard: You can banish 1 "Gem-Knight" monster from your Graveyard; add this card to your hand.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Lazuli] [Type: Rock / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 1] [ATK/DEF: 600/100] [Effect: If this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect: You can target 1 Normal Monster in your Graveyard; add that target to your hand.]

[RL] [Name: Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond] [Type: Rock / Fusion / Effect] [Attribute: EARTH] [Level: 10] [ATK/DEF: 3400/2000] [Summoning Conditions: 3 "Gem-Knight" monsters] [Effect: Must first be Fusion Summoned with the above Fusion Materials. You can only Special Summon "Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond(s)" once per turn. Once per turn: You can send 1 "Gem-Knight" monster you control to the Graveyard, and if you do, Special Summon 1 "Gem-Knight" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.]

[OC] [Name: Lancer Strike] [Type: Continuous Action Spell] [Effect: By returning a Spell Card from your hand or field to your Deck; you can target 1 monster you control, it can attack again this turn. By sending this card to the Graveyard; you can target 1 monster you control and it can attack once again. You can not grab any Action Cards if this card is on the field.]


	2. Make Up or Break Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Alterationshipping (Yugo x Shinji Weber)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because they´re both trying to change their fate, Shinji wants to change the city with his revolution and Yugo is trying to change his life to a better one like Jack did.

"GAHHH!" Due to the scream, Shinji naturally raised his head up quickly, but he forgot that he was underneath the bike and ended up smacking his head against the metal. Groaning, he rolled out from beneath the white Duel Runner, rubbing his head. 

"Yugo-?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY BABY?!" Yugo shouted, eyes wide. He looked at Shinji like he had just committed the worse crime.

"Oh, I was just making a few adjustments." Shinji replied, reaching for a rag to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "I figured since you wouldn't stop nagging about the speed output I just went ahead and fixed it for you." Shinji stood up and grabbed his tools so that he could put them back on the shelf. He expected Yugo to start thanking him but instead he got the opposite reaction.

"Why would you do that?!"

"Huh?" 

"Why would you touch another's man bike?! That's like! The worse thing you could possibly do!"

"Yugo, I didn't break anything. I was just fixing it up for you." Shinji explained. 

"You might as well have! You ruined my baby! She'll never be the same!" Yugo sobbed. Shinji rolled his eyes.

"Stop being so over dramatic. And honestly you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you?!" Yugo sounded appalled. "After what you just did to my bike?!" 

"I fixed your bike!" Shinji snapped. "You've been complaining about it for weeks now!"

"That doesn't mean I wanted **you** to fix it!"

"What is with all the yelling down here?!" Rin shouted from the top of the garage steps. 

"Yugo's being dumb again!" 

"I am not!" Yugo growled back. Rin came down the steps and looked around, seeing nothing immediately amiss. "He touched my bike!" Yugo shouted, pointing at him. Rin glanced over at Shinji and shook her head.

"Bad move, Shinji." 

"Are you serious?" Shinji muttered, confused on why levelheaded Rin wasn't taking his side. 

"Yugo is super picky about his bike. You shouldn't have been messing with it."

"I! Was! Fixing! It!" Shinji emphasized. 

"How would you like it if I started messing with your Duel Runner without permission?!" Yugo shouted.

"Well, I wouldn't be acting like a Top's brat for one!" Shinji argued back, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm done." And with those final words Shinji climbed back up the stairs, brushing past Rin as he did so and ignoring the hurt look in Yugo's eyes.

Feeling a need to cool down, Shinji went to the kitchen where Crow was cooking. The kids were out so the house was quiet. Crow looked up from the stew he was making and took in his friend's sour expression.

"I heard shouting. Is everything okay?" 

"It's nothing. Yugo is just acting like a child." Shinji muttered as he reached into the fridge for a soda can. Crow raised an eyebrow at him.

"More details, please?" Shinji opened his can and took a few sips before answering. 

"I was trying to be a good person and help Yugo with his bike. You know how he's been complaining about not being able to accelerate fast enough for the past two weeks? Well, I did a few tweaks and worked out a few dents and that kid has the nerve to yell at **me** for helping." Shinji took another sip to calm his nerves. "And not just him. Him and Rin!" 

Shinji waited for Crow to start agreeing with him, but instead, he just sat there and stared at him like he had grown an extra arm. 

"Did you ask him if he wanted help?"

"No, I just assumed-"

"That's the problem, Shinji." Crow placed a cover over the pot of stew. "You can't just 'assume' Yugo would be okay with that, and with his bike no less."

"But-"

"Everyone has a special connection to their Duel Runners, more so with Yugo. Shinji, that Duel Runner is the only thing Yugo has of his old life." Crow leaned back against the counter, his arms crossed. "It's the only thing the Tops didn't take away when his father died." Shinji's heart drop into his stomach.

Yugo used to be a Top. The keyword was 'used to'. Yugo's father was some hotshot pro Turbo duelist but after a fatal crash Yugo was left alone and the Tops just threw him in the orphanage, along with his father's Duel Runner. Due to Yugo's age and the laws of the City, the Duel Runner was the only thing that would fall into his possession. Any money the family had was used to pay for the funeral and given back to the city.

It was how Yugo ended up here in the slums, living with him and Crow. That's when Shinji realized that his parting words carried much more venom than he mean too.

"Shit." Shinji swore, running a hand through his bangs. "I gotta apologize."

"You do that." Crow said, nodding before returning his attention back to the stew. "But don't look so worried. Yugo is a pretty chill guy. It takes **a lot** to get on his bad side." Shinji hopes his friend is right as he heads back to the garage.

Both Yugo and Rin were still down there. He could hear their voices from the staircase but they were speaking too quietly for him to make out what they were saying. Taking a breath, Shinji went down the steps.

Yugo was seated beside his Duel Runner with Rin crouched beside him. Both of them went silent when he came in. At first, Shinji wasn't sure where to start and he shifted awkwardly in place. Rin stood up.

"Well guess that's my cue to leave. You both have fun." Rin said over her shoulder before climbing back up the stairs, leaving the two of them alone. Once Rin was gone, Shinji looked back at Yugo to see that he had turned his attention back to his Duel Runner. 

"Yugo, look I-"

"Don't say it." Yugo interrupted, toying with the screwdriver in his hand. "I get it. I was being a dumb ass again. I know." Shinji really wanted to take that out Yugo was giving him, but he couldn't let Yugo take all the blame for the argument. 

"No, no, we're both dumb asses. A Duel Runner is the only thing that can make a Commoner really feel free and those that have them are very lucky to have them." Shinji laid a hand on his own Duel Runner that was parked next to Yugo's. "I shouldn't have started tinkering with your's, especially without permission. I'm sorry about that. It won't happen again." 

Yugo stood up from the ground and smiled warmly at Shinji.

"Eh, it's really no big deal. I was just being over dramatic. It's not like you actually broke it or anything. You really did a nice job tuning her up." Yugo patted the bike affectionately. "You have some real skills, Shinji. More than me or my dad." 

"You learn a few things after living in the slums for so long."

"Maybe you could teach me a few things. Compared to you and Crow, me and Rin don't know all that much." 

"Sure thing. It isn't as complicated as other Tops make it out to be." 

"Yugo! Shinji! Are you guys done making out yet?! It's time for dinner!" Rin called from upstairs. Shinji's face redden as did Yugo's.

"Don't you mean make up?!" Yugo shouted back.

"Same thing!" Rin responded causing Yugo to sigh and rub a hand over his face.

"Sorry. She's...uhh...yeah..." Yugo stumble over his words before rushing for the stairs. "Let's go eat!" Yugo said, a bit too loudly before disappearing. Shinji had to wait a few extra minutes for his blush to go down before he could join them.


	3. The Queen and Her Liger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Amazonesshipping (Grace Tyler x Gloria Tyler)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because they both use Amazoness decks.

"Here ya go!" Grace said cheerfully as she handed a bowl to an elderly woman. The woman thanked her quietly with a small smile before shuffling off. Gloria narrowed her eyes. Grace may be able to fool everyone else with those fake smiles and assuring words, but she knew better.

Gloria could see the paleness in her cheeks, the dull shine in her eyes, the occasion stumble in her step. Her sister wasn't okay. She was sick. Probably from overworking. She was pushing herself too hard.

Suddenly, Grace began coughing which quickly turned into a fit. Saya, the girl who was working with her, stop serving and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it gently. 

"Hey, are you alright, Grace?" She asked, concern clear in her blue eyes.

"I'm fine. Just something got stuck in my throat is all. Like, no worries." Grace smiled. Saya stared at her for a moment, her concern unwavering. 

"Uhh...Saya?! A little help over here?!" Allen called from the other side of the room. The boy was struggling under the weight of four boxes stacked on top of one another in his arms. They were filled with soup cans. Looks like Aster had finally gotten the kid to do some actual work.

"Ah! Allen! I thought I told you not to take so much at one time!" Saya lightly scolded, much like a worried mother would before rushing over to help. Gloria gritted her teeth as Saya completely abandon her sister to serve all by herself. However, Grace seemed okay with it. She just smiled and served another bowl of soup to the next person in line. 

"Here you go! Like, eat up!" 

"G-Grace? I'm going to help Allen with these boxes. Is that okay?" Saya called, now holding two out of the four boxes her friend had been holding. 

"No worries! You go and help your 'totally not' boyfriend! I can handle this!" Grace said. Both her and Grace, heck, anyone with a brain could see that Saya had lovey dovey feelings for Allen, however, Allen didn't even have a single brain cell so he was pretty much out of the loop.

"Boyfriend? What are you talking about?" Allen questioned. Gloria rolled her eyes at how dense the boy was as Saya nudge past him. 

"C-come on, Allen! Let's get these to the kitchen!" Saya quickly left, followed by Allen. Gloria watch for a moment as her sister continued to serve soup to the Resistance until another one of her coughing fits happen, much worse than the others.

"Young lady, are you alright?" The older man she had been serving asked.

"W-who? Me?" Grace coughed, clearing her throat. "I'm like, totally fine! Just a frog in the throat." Okay, this was just too painful to watch any longer. Gloria moved forward and reached her sister's side in only a couple of strides. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, hey sis! What's up?" 

"I'll take it from here. You need a break from soup duty." Grace's eyes widen.

"What? But sis, I can handle it!"

"No, you can't. Go take a break." Gloria repeated, a bit more forcefully, pushing her out of the way. Grace pouted at her like an immature child.

"Fine! Like, whatever!" Grace then left, her long silver hair waving as she moved. Even her hair had lost its shine. Gloria then got to work, serving the rest of the people their lunch. 

She didn't like doing this. It made her stomach feel all tingly when she handed the bowl back to the other and got a warm smile in return. She even found herself smiling a few times. She had already talked about this with Aster but he just told her it was because she was doing something 'good' for a change. She didn't understand though. She did 'good' things for Academia and she hasn't felt like this before. 

Was this how Grace felt when she served soup? Is this why she liked soup duty so much and hardly took any time off? If so, she was handling the feeling much better than she was. Once everyone had their bowls, Gloria took the nearly empty soup pots and headed back to the kitchen to get them washed. When she entered the kitchen she nearly drop the pots.

"Grace!" Gloria snaps. This caused her younger sister, as well as Allen and Saya, to look up at her. They were putting the soup cans away and Grace was helping them. Gloria gritted her teeth once more. Grace had ignored her orders and didn't leave to rest like she had asked. 

"Like, what's your problem?" Grace asked. Gloria's eye twitched.

"I thought I told you to rest." 

"No. You told me I needed a break from soup duty." Grace pointed at the cans. "This isn't soup duty. Like, duh." Gloria wanted to smack her for finding such a dumb loophole. 

"Uhh...Grace? I'm a bit worried too." Saya said, setting down a soup can. 

"Huh?"

"You've been working so hard. And we really appreciate it, but...I think you might be...overworking yourself." 

"I have to agree with Saya on that. You've been doing more work than anyone else here. Even me! And that's saying something." Allen said as he set some more cans on the shelf. Gloria and Grace rolled their eyes while Saya just smiled kindly. 

"Oh, come on you guys. Don't tell me you're turning into a worrywart like Gloria over there. So lame." Grace sighed, crossing her arms. Gloria grabbed her sister's shoulder.

"Bed. Now." 

"Huh?"

"You heard me." Gloria growled. Grace met her gaze evenly, well, evenly as she could through feverishly bright eyes. When she saw that Allen nor Saya were coming to her defense she shoved away her hand. 

"If you're going to be like that then fine!" She snaps before marching off. Gloria watched her go with a sigh. Why was she so difficult? She was never like this when they were at Academia.

"Hey, I know that look well." Gloria looked over at Allen, who was smirking at her. "I feel your pain." 

"I sincerely doubt you do." 

"Saya's the same way. She tries to do everything herself."

"H-hey! I do not! I'm just doing my part!" Saya objected, nearly dropping her soup cans. Allen just gave her a knowing look. 

"Anyway, you should probably go after her. If she's anything like Saya, then she's probably doing the opposite of what you asked." 

"For once you said something smart." Gloria said, before leaving. Allen went back to stocking the shelf before stopping. He blinked a couple of times as if his brain was trying to process something.

"Wait a minute...hey!"

* * *

Gloria found Grace wandering the halls of the Duel Sanctuary. In the opposite direction of their room. That wasn't surprising. 

"Grace!" Gloria called. Grace didn't appear to have heard her and kept on walking. Gloria wasn't sure if this was on purpose or not. "Grace!" She called again, this time, getting an answer.

"Ugh! Like, what is it now?!" Grace snapped, turning to face her sister. "I'm going to bed so would you quit nagging at me like I'm some kid you're babysitting!"

"The only reason I'm nagging you is because you're not doing what I asked!" Gloria counter. 

"Well excuse me, your majesty! I can't just 'teleport' to the damn room!" 

"Then what exactly are you doing?! Taking the scenic route?!" Grace blinked in surprise.

"I...am?" Grace looked around for a moment as if she finally now realized that she wasn't even going in the right direction. "Whoa. How did I end up here?"

Okay. That was it.

Gloria grabbed Grace's arm and began to pull her down the hallway.

"You're going to bed and I'm going to make sure you do." Gloria said in such a tone that was not meant to be argued with. 

"I'm not some little kid, you know." Grace huffed, but there was a trace of relief in her voice. 

When they got to the room Grace took off her shoes and laid down on the bed. Their room wasn't anything fancy like in Academia, but you couldn't exactly expect that in this dimension. In fact, the two shared the room with two other Academia students but they weren't here right now. They were out, helping the shattered dimension and its people.

"Once you wake up, I'll get you some soup to eat." Grace opened her mouth, but Gloria shook her head. "I don't care what you say. I'm the oldest and what I say goes." Seeing that Grace was finally settling in for some rest she began to leave. 

"Whatever. You are so bossy." Grace yawned as she curled up underneath the thin sheets. Gloria paused at the doorway.

"I'm bossy because I'm the oldest. I'm not going to sit back and watch you work yourself to death." Gloria took a deep breath. "That isn't what a big sister does."

"I know." Grace's reply was quick and soft. "And that's what I love about you. No matter what I do..." Gloria closed her eyes. 

"I'll always be there for you, Grace. Nothing can change that. Not the Professor, not this war, not anything." Gloria allowed that last sentence to hang in the air for a moment. She then smirked to herself. "The Queen will always be there for her kitten." 

"Oh, come on! Liger is not a kitten and neither am I!" Grace protested. Gloria allowed herself to chuckle. Sick or not, Grace still had that same reaction that she never got tired of. 

"Goodnight, Grace." Gloria shuts the door behind her. Grace sighs and lays back down on the bed. Grace tried to stay pouty but found that she couldn't. Her body and mind felt like mush and the sweet embrace of sleep was more than tempting. 

But just before falling asleep, Grace giggled quietly as she repeated her sister's words in her head. 

The Queen will always be there for her pet Liger, just as Gloria will always be there for her.


	4. Parasite Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Amethystshipping (Declan Akaba x Lulu Obsidian)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because Lulu's name and (part of) her deck theme has to do with gems, amethyst is a gem that fits both hers and Declan's eye colors. Declan can also be seen as cold, or hardened like a stone.

"Lulu! Lulu, wake up, please!" Lulu could hear her brother's voice. He sounded really worried. She forced herself to open her eyes. Standing over her, Lulu could make out two shapes. The first one was, of course, her brother Shay. The other was none other than their leader, Declan. However, both of them were in their Duel Forms, Rise Falcon and Doom King Armageddon respectively. 

"B-brother?"

"Oh thank the Gods." Shay swore quietly. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?" 

"Honestly, everything aches. What...happen?" 

"You mean, you don't remember?" Out of the corner of her eye Lulu could see Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion, the Duel Forms of Yuya and Yuto. Why was everyone in their Duel Forms? Even she was in her own Duel Form! Was there a fight?

"N-no. What happened?" Lulu asked as she struggle to stand on her feet.

"A Fusion Parasite stung you." Declan answers. "After you were injected with the poison, you started attacking us."

"Yeah! Sorry we had to knock some sense into you." Yuya said, apologetically. Lulu could see the spot where the stringer had dug its way underneath her feathers. 

"We manage to remove the stinger after knocking you out, but your wing will feel sore for a few days." Yuto said, pointing at the injury. 

"It's fine." Lulu looked around the dark cave they had done battle. All the little parasites were gone as well as the Queen Parasite, the commander of the Fusion Parasites. "Sorry for being an obstacle." 

"It's not your fault, Lulu. You really saved Declan's butt." Yuya said with a smile. "Although, he never will admit it." He added with a glance at their leader. Now it was all coming back to her. The reason she had gotten stung in the first place was because the parasite was aiming for Declan and she got in the way. 

"Speaking of which, I didn't hear any thank yous." Shay muttered, glaring at Declan. 

"It's fine, Shay." Lulu said, grabbing onto her brother's shoulder. "Better for me to get stung than him. I mean, could you really imagine us taking on a mind controlled Declan?"

"Fighting an unrestrained Declan? That probably wouldn't have ended well." Yuto added. Declan didn't comment. Instead he had his eyes fixed on another hole that led deeper into the network. 

"Which means we all need to stay on our toes. The Queen and her parasites have retreated further in the tunnels. We need to stop her from making a new nest. Lulu, can you still fight?"

"Of course! I'm with you guys until the end!"

"Then just stay close to us. They got you once, I don't want to fight you again." Shay said softly.

"Don't worry, brother. I'll be fine." She claimed. The group trudge deeper into the caves. After wandering for what felt like ages they could finally hear some insect chattering coming from up ahead. Declan signal for them to be quiet and to stay low. The end of the tunnel lead to another large cavern where inside the Queen was addressing her subjects. 

"Any plan, Declan?" Lulu whisper to him quietly.

"Still thinking..." Declan murmur back, his gaze flickering across the room. Unfortunately, this was the exact moment Yuya's allergies decided to kick in.

"ACHOO!" He sneezed, causing everyone to look in his direction.

"Bless you." Yuto sighs as everyone gets into a battle stance. 

"Thanks." Yuya sniffs.

"Parasites, protect your Queen!" The Parasite Queen hisses and waves of poisonous parasites flood towards them. For the next few minutes, it would be total chaos. The moment they defeated one parasite, two more would pop up in its place. There seem to be no end to them.

There's when Lulu spotted the Queen trying to make a run for it through a different tunnel, but Declan was right on her heels. Lulu knew that Declan couldn't take on that monster alone!

"Guys-!" Lulu tried to call out to her brother and teammates, but all of them had their hands full. Making a choice, Lulu broke free from the swarm of parasites and flew straight for the same tunnel she last saw Declan go through. When she got to the other side of the tunnel, she was horrified by what she saw. 

The Queen was nowhere in sight, but Declan was on the ground, motionless. When she got close to him, she could see that he was bleeding.

"Declan! Declan, are you alright?! Please, answer me!" Lulu began shaking their leader, almost viciously just to get a response from him. But he didn't move. Tears falling from her face, Lulu turned to scream for her team, but before she could even open her mouth, a hand closed around her throat and picked her up.

Gasping for breath she clawed at the hand but it refuse to let go. She twisted her head as best she could only to be completely confusion and alarmed as she stared back into Declan's cold purple eyes.

"D-Dec-" Her sentence was cut off as she was thrown against the wall of the cave. The wind was knocked out of her as she fell to the floor. Lulu only had a few seconds to react before Declan's lance came swinging down on her head. Lulu immediately headed for the air, her safe space.

This is exactly what she had feared! Declan had been poisoned by the Queen!

"Declan! Fight it! I know this isn't you!" Lulu shouted, but Declan disregarded her words, continuing to attack her. Even though she had air advantage it wasn't much compared to Declan's skills. And on top of that, Lulu was unable to use her sonic voice. She didn't want to hurt Declan, but Declan seem really keen on hurting her. Again, Lulu tried calling for her team, but her calls went unheard. They couldn't hear her from this deep within the caves and Declan wasn't letting her pass. 

_"Come on, Lulu! Think! There has to be the way to stop him! How did the others return me to normal?"_ Lulu then remember that Yuto said something about a stinger. Was removing the stringer the key to stopping him? Lost in her thoughts for a moment, Lulu failed to see the lance being thrown at her and the weapon hit its mark. 

She slammed into the ground once again, but before she could regain any air, Declan was on top of her. Picking her up roughly he took up his lance and pierce it right through her wing, effectively pinning her to the rock wall. She screamed in pain as blood began to trickle down. 

"D-Declan...please..." Lulu whimper, but she only got a cold stare in return. Lulu knows that when she was poisoned, she couldn't hear, see, or stop any of her actions. Why would Declan be any different? Declan then summoned a second lance to his other hand and aimed it at her heart.

He was going to kill her.

Just as Lulu was about to accept her fate, she spotted it. The stinger!

It was in the back of his neck, a purple thorn-like stinger. She just had to get it out! She struggle to dislodge the first lance that was pinning her down, but it refused to budge. She had to figure out a way to get him closer to her but without him noticing what she was going after.

Declan got ready for the final blow and that's when she lunged out as far as her hands could reach and grabbed a hold of Declan's scarf. She yank hard, forcing him towards her and before he could even react Lulu placed her lips over his own. 

It was only for about three seconds tops. Just enough time for her to reach around and seize the stinger, pulling it out of his neck. As soon as she did, Declan pulled away. Lulu couldn't quite read his expression, but she was willing to guess that he was about as shocked as she was.

He blinked at her a couple of times, before seeing the position she was in and the stinger on the ground. He quickly grabbed his weapon, his calm, neutral expression returning.

"This...is going to hurt."

"Kind of figured that." She replies. Like pulling off a band-aid, he rips it out fast but that doesn't stop a strike of pain from coursing through her. She falls to her knees, trembling a bit.

"Any major wounds?" He asked. 

"Aside from my wing, only scratches." She could have sworn Declan had let out a sigh of relief, but she wasn't listening too closely.

"Lulu? Declan?" Yuya had spotted them. He called back for the others. "Shay! Yuto! I found them!" Shay rushed in first, zeroing in on his sister.

"What happen?" He immediately demanded. 

"It's nothing, brother. Just...uhh..."

"I wasn't watching myself and the Queen stung me." Declan answer for her. 

"What?! She got you?!" Yuya exclaims. "Are you alright?!"

"Only thanks to Lulu I am." He said, nodding at her. Lulu smiled.

"Hey, I don't want to be 'that guy' but I think we should fall back." Yuto piped up. "All of us are either exhausted or worse." Yuto gestures at Lulu's bloody wing. "And I'm afraid that if we go any further in, we won't be able to find our way back out." Declan thought for a moment, mulling over the situation.

"We've driven the parasites off for a time. As long as they don't cause any trouble we can leave them be until we are able to assemble a larger team." The tired group began the journey back through the caves. Declan was leading with Yuya and Yuto behind him and Lulu and Shay taking up the rear. 

It was too painful to fly so Shay had to support his sister the entire way which he had no problem doing.

"Lulu, are you okay? Going up against Declan probably wasn't fun." Yuya whisper to her quietly. 

"It wasn't." Lulu said, shaking her head. "I'm just glad he's back to normal." 

"Speaking of which, how did you do it?" Yuto asked. "It took nearly **all** of us to get out your stinger. How did you manage against Declan?" 

"I actually want to know that as well." Shay added.

"Oh...well...umm...I..." Lulu glanced over at their leader for some help, but he just kept on walking forward. "Luck." She finally said.

"I just got really lucky."


	5. She Saved Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Ametrineshipping (Declan Akaba x Lulu Obsidian x Shay Obsidian)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because ametrine is a naturally occurring quartz that is a mixture of amethyst and citrine. As amethyst and citrine are gems that can be used to describe Declan's and Shay’s respective eye color and ametrine is a combination of both. Both, Shay and Declan, can be seen as cold, or hardened like a stone, and Lulu's name and part of her deck theme are related to gems. It is also safe to assume that the gem embedded in Lulu's bracelet is a citrine. The color of her eyes is similar to that of an amethyst more reddish/pink than the ‘ideal’ amethyst.

"Would you stop fucking ignoring me!” Shay’s eyes widen in shock, but before he could react two hands grabbed his shoulders and pinned him to a wall. Shay could see that Declan’s face had changed now.

His violet eyes had darken to a darker shade of purple. Even his hair was a darker shade of gray. His hands had become claw-like and black like coal. Declan hadn’t completely tapped into his Fiend transformation but it was clear he had better control over his powers than Shay did.

Shay’s Raidraptor wings flapped uselessly against the metal wall. Declan’s grip held strong, forcing the Winged Beast boy to look at him.

“You’re not the only one who wants to find her so I suggest you stop pretending I’m not here.” Declan hissed. Shay narrowed his eyes, refusing to back down even though he was the one pinned to the wall.

“Put me down.” Shay growled.

“Not until you agree to listen to me.”

“LIKE HELL I WILL!”

“Keep your fucking voice down! Are you trying to alert my father?!” Declan asked in a hushed whisper. Shay hates to admit that he might actually be right. “Listen. You’re looking for Lulu, so am I. Let’s help each other out.”

“What do you want with my sister?” Shay mutters. Declan’s grip relaxes slightly.

“I...I owe her.”

“Owe her? What do you mean?” Declan finally released Shay and stood up. He was slightly taller than him.

“She saved me...from myself.”

“Yourself? What? Were you planning on killing yourself?” Shay asked, wrinkling his nose. Suicide was a pretty common thing around here. He could probably only estimate the number of kids he has seen hang or stab themselves.

“Don’t tell me you never thought about it?” Declan said. Shay has. But the thought of finding his sister and escaping is what kept him going. “Lulu gave me hope that everything will turn out alright. That we would find a way to escape. She helped me through those hard times as she did with anyone else who was around her. I admire her for that.” Shay’s heart warmed at those words. That sounded just like his Lulu.

“Yeah. Lulu was always one for helping out others.”

“I made a promise to her. Before we got separated. I told her I would get her out.”

“Did you now?”

“Of course. She saved my life. I only wanted to return the favor. Surprisingly, that isn’t what she wanted.”

“What?” Declan met Shay’s gaze evenly.

“She told me that if I was ever to escape, I needed to find you and get you out.” Shay wasn’t at all surprised by this. Of course Lulu would put his life above her own, but that wasn’t how it was suppose to go.

It didn’t matter what happen to him. As long as Lulu was safe and happy.

“My original plan was to get you out first and come back for her.” Declan continued. “But from your attitude I’m guessing that you won’t be leaving quietly.”

“I’m not leaving without Lulu.” Shay stated clearly. Declan sighed.

“I figured as much. Let’s go then.” Declan turned and began walking down the hallway, the same direction Shay had been going in before being stopped by him.

“Where are we going?” Shay asked, actually rushing to keep up.

“Lulu is one of my father’s more ‘successful’ experiments so she’s being kept further below than the others. How well can you control your transformation?”

“Not as good as you.” Shay admitted. “But enough.” Shay’s wings disappeared, melting back into his body. It used to hurt like hell to summon his wings, but he has gotten used to it.

“Good. We’re going to need it.”


	6. Where Are Thou?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Main Ship: Announcershipping (Nico Smiley x Melissa Trail)
> 
> Ship Name: Named as such because they are both announcers in their respective dimensions.

The first ever Dimensional Tournament was about to get underway. It was said to start in about ten minutes. The tournament was suppose to symbolize the growing bond between the four dimensions and to be a joyous event, but Nico Smiley wasn't all too happy. 

He sat in the waiting room, tapping his foot impatiently. Nico was going to be a commentator for the event, however, because of the size of the event and what the tournament was suppose to represent Nico was going to have two co-hosts, one from the Synchro Dimension and the other from the Xyz Dimension. Now Nico didn't have a problem with sharing the spotlight, but what's the point of sharing the spotlight if no one was going to bother to be here on time?

Nico looked down at his watch and grumble to himself. 8 minutes to go. 

Finally, at around the 5 minute mark the co-host from the Xyz Dimension came in. A man known as Mr. Heartland. He wore a golden suit covered in pink hearts with a top hat similar in style and a bow tie covered in spots. 

"Good afternoon, Mr Smiley, I take it?" Mr. Heartland greeted, holding his hand out with a large smile. Nico shook hands out of courtesy. 

"Cutting it a little close there, Mr. Heartland?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, a thousand apologizes. With traffic coming from every dimension you must understand the horrific jam traveling is now." 

"I suppose." Nico sighed. "Have you seen any sign of our Synchro Dimension co-host? We're about to go on soon and I haven't seen them at all." Mr. Heartland shakes his head.

"Sorry. No dice." The lead organizer of the event, Leo Akaba, poke his head into the room.

"Announcers, we're about to be live soon. Is everything ready?" 

"Not quite, Mr. Akaba." Nico answers. "One of our co-hosts still seems to be missing." Leo frown for a moment.

"Perhaps they lost their way. I'll get on it right away, but for now, you and Mr. Heartland can start."

* * *

"Welcome everyone to our very first annual Dimensional Duel Tournament!" Nico announced to the millions of people in the stands. 

"Here the best duelists of each dimension are going to smash, clash, and dash to prove which of them deserves the title of Dimensional Champion!" Mr. Heartland added, pumping up the crowd further. 

_"So far, so good."_ Nico thought to himself. "But before that, allow us to explain the rules and how the challengers will be matched-"

"WOO! JUST MADE IT!" A voice shouted from above them. Stun, everyone looks towards the sky to see a large helicopter flying above the stadium and inside it was a fair skinned woman with curly blonde hair wearing a white shirt that showed her midriff, a yellow bow, a red vest, and a cowboy hat with yellow shorts. In one of her hands was a microphone. Without skipping a beat, the cowgirl leaped off the helicopter. 

Most of the crowd, including Nico himself, began to panic, thinking that this lady was going to hurt herself but the woman front flip, showing off the bag she was wearing and deplored the parachute that was inside. She landed safely beside Nico and Mr. Heartland, shouldering off her bag.

"Sorry fellows for the wait. Along the way we took a wrong turn and ended up in the Xyz Dimension of all things! Can ya imagine that?" She grinned.

"Excuse me, and you are?" Mr. Heartland asked.

"The name's Melissa Trail! Those in the Synchro Dimension know me as the host of my show, Tell Me Melissa! I'm also the top reporter there! And I'm here to help you fellows out." Melissa grins.

"I see. Good to have you abroad, Ms. Melissa! The more the merrier, right Nico?" Mr. Heartland turned to his co-host, but Nico didn't answer. He just couldn't stop staring at the beautiful angel in front of him. "Uhh...Nico? Hello? Anyone home?" Mr. Heartland waved a hand in front of his face. He didn't even blink.

"Umm...is he okay?" Melissa asked, cocking her head to the side in question. 

"Not sure. Let's try this." Mr. Heartland readied his cane right behind Nico and gave the man a sharp smack in the back. This jolted Nico out of his trance but also sent him stumbling forward right into Melissa's arms. 

"Whoa! You okay, hun?"

"W-what?!" Nico exclaims, his face red. "Who? Me?!" He jumps out of her arms while a few in the audience chuckle at Nico's antics. 

"Uhh...yeah you. Who else would I be talking too?" Melissa asked. Nico wiped the sweat from his forehead, his mouth dry.

"I-I'm fine, just...glad to see that you could make it. N-now, about those rules-" As Nico stammered out the rules with Melissa staring at him curiously, Mr. Heartland watched with an interested glint in his eye. 

Oh, this was going to be an entertaining tournament indeed.


	7. On My Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Antiheroshipping (Kite Tenjo x Aster Phoenix)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because they are both considered antihero archetype characters.

Kite and Yuya had won the duel against the three Obelisk Force members. Kite didn’t card them.

He knew better now.

Kite walked over to the group, ready to help Shay to his feet and get him some medical help when he noticed the fearful look on one of the Lancer’s faces.

Sylvio, he believed his name was.

“Guys! We got company!” He shouted. Kite glanced behind himself to see a whole crowd of Obelisk Blue students coming towards them. There was a lot of them, but not enough to overpower him.

“You get Shay out of here.” Allen says to the crouched Yuya who was by Shay’s unconscious body. “I’ll hold off these buffoons.”

“No, Allen!” Kite is a bit taken about by Yuya’s sharp tone. “I will.”

“You will do no such thing!” A new voice shouted. Kite then spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Could it be? No!

With quick reflexes, Kite pushed Yuya out of the way and holds up his duel disk in defense to the oncoming projectile. The duel anchor connects to Kite’s duel disk, locking into place.

 **“Generating Action Field: Crossover.”** Kite’s duel disk said as the floating blue platforms returned.

“What?! NO!” Everyone looks up to see that the outrageous cry had came from a male. He had gray hair with dark blue eyes and wore a ridiculous getup that made him look more of a clown than Yuya.

“Aster?!” Yuya gasped in shock as did the others.

“No, no, no! That chain was meant for Yuya Sakaki! Not some nobody!” Kite narrowed his eyes and raced forward, allowing the chain to guide him to his opponent.

“Yuya! I’ll handle this clown! You worry about the others!” Kite shouts behind him as he leaped up a few platforms so that he could stand on the same ground as Aster.

Aster faced Kite, a cold look in his eyes.

“I didn’t come all the way out here to face some Xyz Loser.” Aster snorted.

“Well that’s too bad.” Kite counter, drawing his opening hand. “Looks like you’re stuck with me. I know what a duel anchor is. This won’t release me until the duel has concluded.” Aster bit his tongue. He didn’t have time for this!

“Whatever! First I’ll deal with you! Everyone! Don’t let Yuya escape!” Aster shouted to his soldiers.

“Yes Commander Phoenix!” The soldiers said in unison as Aster finally drew his opening hand.

“Let’s duel!” They both shouted together.

* * *

** Kite Tenjo vs. Aster Phoenix  **

**Action Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 1]**

**Kite: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

**Aster: 4000 LP [Hand: 5]**

* * *

“I’ll make the first move!” Aster declared. “And choosing which monster to summon was an easy decision to make! Come out, Destiny Hero Decider **(ATK: 1600, LV: 4)**!” Aster shouted as the fish-like Warrior-Type monster back flipped out of the portal and landed in front of him.

 _“Yuya Sakaki, once I get past this idiot, I’m bringing the curtains down on you and your father’s dueltaining!”_ Aster thought while looking down at his hand to the torn bottom half of Smile World. _“You two think dueling is all about making people smile? Well after I get through with you, you’ll never be smiling again.”_ Aster glared up at Kite.

 _“Yuya and the others don’t have time for this. I better make this fast.”_ Kite thought as he drew from his deck.

“My move! I draw!” He shouted.

* * *

“I use one Overlay Unit to activate Galaxy-Eyes’s special ability. Cipher Subjection!” Kite’s ace monster absorbed the glowing ball of light into his body. He then fanned out his large wings, colorful sparks flying everywhere like fireworks. “I gain control of your monster and transform it into a Galaxy-Eyes!”

Destiny Hero Dystopia, a Fusion Warrior-Type monster on Aster’s field disappeared and reappeared on Kite’s side of the field.

“What?!” Aster gasped as he watched his ace monster transform into a clone of the first Galaxy-Eyes, also having his attack bump up to 3000 like the original Galaxy-Eyes.

“Now go! Galaxy-Eyes! Attack Aster directly! Cipher Stream of Destruction!” Both Dragon-Types fired off their attacks, both of them making contact and sending the commander flying.

* * *

** Kite Tenjo vs. Aster Phoenix  **

**Action Field: Crossover (You can use Action Cards, but you can only have 1 Action Card in your hand.)**

**[Turn: 7]**

**Kite: 1400 LP [Hand: 2]**

**Aster: (1600 - 3000) = 0 LP [Hand: 1]**

* * *

“Aster!” Yuya cried out in concern. He and the others have dealt with the Obelisk Blue students easily and were now watching the duel between Kite and Aster. As the monsters and the field faded away so did the chain that binded Kite to Aster. Kite rubbed his wrist where the metal cuff had dug into his skin and approached Aster as he did so.

“Wait! Kite! Don’t do it!” Kite heard the other Lancers call to him. Did they think that he was going to card the Fusion Commander? Probably. Kite stops in front of Aster, who was now sitting on his knees. He hanged his head with a look of defeat. Kite could hear Noro freaking out in the background.

“No. I wasn’t supposed to lose.” Aster murmur to himself.

“Well, you did.” Kite stated simply. Aster glared up at Kite with complete and utter rage. “Calm down. Defeat isn’t everything.” Aster’s mouth hangs open for a minute.

“What are you talking about? Winning is everything!” Aster shouted. “The Professor said so! He knows everything!” Kite raised an eyebrow at him.

“Have you ever consider that the Professor could be wrong?”

“The Professor is never wrong!” Aster barked back.

“Aster, tell me something. Do you do anything on your own?”

“Ex-excuse me?” Aster asked, stun by the question.

“Have you ever had a thought of your own accord? Without the Professor?”

“Of course I have!” Aster snapped.

“Then tell me this. Why is he right? Why is the Professor right?” Aster froze for a minute. That was just the reaction Kite expected. “You don’t even know, do you? You’re just blindly following him and his ideals.”

“I am not!” Aster shouted stubbornly. “The Professor is my superior and my leader! He plans to unite the dimensions and…!”

“Does this looks like unity to you?” Kite gestured at their destroyed surroundings. “How is this going to unite the dimensions? How is this helping anyone?” Aster blinked and looked around himself. His eyes widen as if he finally noticed for the first time the destruction that laid before him. “Just because someone says they’re right doesn't mean they are.”

Aster blinked a couple of more times. No….Mr. Sakaki and Kite….they had to be wrong. They just had to be!

“No, no, no! The Professor is ALWAYS right! His word is law! AHHHHH!” Aster screamed into the air. Kite waited calmly for him to regain his senses.

“Hey! Mister McFrowny!” Kite and everyone else looked up to see that it was Grace that was speaking to them. “There was a rumor a long time ago. You didn’t always follow after the Professor’s words. Like, rumor has it that you actually tried to go against him.”

“Whoa, really?” Yuya gasped. Grace nods.

“But it’s just a rumor.” Gloria spoke up, her arms crossed over her chest. “It’s not actually true. Is it?” Everyone looked back at Aster to see that he has gone silent. He was staring at the ground.

“It’s true.” He finally said. “I did try and go against the Professor….once.”

“Well, then what happen?” Sylvio demanded. Aster looked away to the side, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze.

“It was a long time ago...I was just starting out as a Commander, but I didn’t understand the role too well. I asked him what were we doing in the Xyz Dimension. What was our purpose for carding everyone.” Aster’s eyes darken with past pain. “He beat me in four different duels back to back. I hardly remember how it happen. It...it hurt so much. His monsters tossed me around like I was a rag doll. After it was all over he told me that we were there to root out the weak. There was no room for weaklings in his perfect world.” Aster swallowed a lump in his throat. “He told me it was my destiny to do this.”

“And you believe him because he beat you?” Kite asked. “Just because he beat you in a duel doesn't make his ideals okay or justified. They were just as fucked up at the end of the duel as they were in the beginning.” Kite steps closer to Aster and held his hand out, offering it to him. “Look, you don’t have to fight alone anymore. Trust me, I've learned my lesson on that.” Kite glanced back over at Yuya and the still unconscious Shay that Gong was now carrying.

Yuya smiled and nodded at him. Aster stared at his hand like it was a foreign object.

“We’re going to fix the dimensions, Aster. Let’s do it together!” Yuya shouted. Aster stared at Kite’s hand for a moment longer but slowly reaching out for it. Flashbacks of Yusho holding out the Smile World Spell Card to him replayed in his mind. Aster then narrowed his eyes and harshly smacked Kite’s hand away. Everyone watched as Aster stood up on his own.

“Lies! My pride just got the better of me that day! The Professor’s plan is way bigger than me or anyone else! It doesn’t matter how we do it!” Aster then holds up his duel disk. “Everyone, retreat!” And with a flash of light everyone, including the Obelisk Force and Obelisk Blue students were gone. Kite lets out a sigh.

 _“Damn. I was close to getting through to him.”_ Kite was pulled from his thoughts by Grace and Gloria’s arguing voices. Apparently, Grace wanted to stay and help out the resistance, but Gloria didn’t really agree. Noro was freaking out, as always. Kite started towards the group. _“Guess I better check into this.”_

* * *

Word has it that Grace, Gloria, and Noro wouldn’t be returning. They had joined sides with Yuya Sakaki and his friends.

 _“Fools.”_ Aster thought. _“All of them are fools.”_

“Uhhh, sir? Where are you going?” An Obelisk Blue student asked.

“Out.” Aster replied swiftly, throwing on his white hood. “Call the Professor and tell him about the traitors.”

“Yes, Commander Phoenix.” Aster then exited their home base. Maybe if he was lucky he would run into Yuya Sakaki and finally duel him. Then he can show Kite and the others that once and for all the Professor’s teachings were superior.

Aster walked around the destroyed dimension, trying hard not to think of what Kite had told him. That’s when Aster spotted something among the rubble. It was pink and looked out of place in the gray, dark, landscape.

Aster picked up the pink object and realized that it was a doll. A child’s doll in fact. It probably belonged to a little girl with the way the doll was designed. Aster was going to call out, to see if the child was still nearby but the words got caught in his throat.

How could the child be nearby? Only two things could have happen to anyone in this dimension. Either they were turned into a card...or they were in hiding. Neither option sat right with Aster the more he thought about it. He threw the doll on the ground and let out a cry of frustration.

Why were they doing this? None of it made any sense! Why did the Professor dueled him instead of giving him a straight answer?! To weed out the weak? Sure, it sort of made sense on paper, but did that include the elderly? The children? Others with a physical or mental disability?

Maybe Grace was onto something by joining the resistance. Or maybe she wasn’t? The Professor was a powerful individual. Could they even stand against such a man?

Aster ripped off his hood, now wanting nothing to do with it. He allowed the hood to fall to the ground and continued walking. He didn’t know how far he walked nor did he know how long. He just kept on walking straight without looking back.

Aster finally reached the remains of what looked like a main square. A large marble fountain stood at the center. It might have actually been beautiful, but most of it was destroyed, Large chunks of it had been broken off and laid scatter. Hopes of rebuilding it has became dust. Aster found himself sitting down on the edge of the fountain, on one of the more intact sides. Aster closed his eyes and sighed. When has his life become this?

For one reason or another, Aster began to sing quietly to himself.

_Aster: [“There’s gotta be another way out. I’ve been stuck in a cage with my doubt. I’ve tried forever getting out on my own.”]_

Despite being alone, Aster continued to sing to himself.

_Aster: [“But every time I do this my way, I get caught in the lies of the enemy. I lay my troubles down. I’m ready for you now. Bring me out!”]_

Aster somewhat shouted the last line to the empty air. He then stood up from his seat and continued singing.

_Aster: [“Come and find me in the dark now! Everyday by myself I’m breaking down. I don’t wanna fight alone anymore. Bring me out! From the prison of my own pride. My Ra I need a hope I can’t deny. In the end I’m realizing I was never meant to fight on my own!”]_

Aster began walking, leaving behind the destroyed fountain. As Aster was singing his mind flashed back to Kite. The one who was trying to talk some sense into him.

_Aster: [“Every little thing that I’ve known is everything I need to let go. You’re so much bigger than the world I have made. So I surrender my soul. I’m reaching out for your hope! I lay my weapons down. I’m ready for you now. Bring me out!”]_

As Aster hit the chorus he wasn’t aware of someone watching him. Kite’s eyes sharpen with interest upon spotting the commander. He thought he had heard singing coming from this direction, but it was almost too crazy to believe. Who could be singing in a place like this?

Kite kept himself hidden, not wanting to show himself quite yet.

_Aster: [“Come and find me in the dark now! Everyday by myself I’m breaking down. I don’t wanna fight alone anymore. Bring me out! From the prison of my own pride. My Ra I need a hope I can’t deny. In the end I’m realizing I was never meant to fight on my own!”]_

Kite was bit surprised. Was Aster actually asking for help?

_Aster: [“I don’t wanna be incomplete. I remember what you said to me. I don’t have to fight alone. Bring me out! Come and find me in the dark now. Everyday by myself I’m breaking down. I don’t wanna fight alone anymore. Bring me out! From the prison of my own pride. My Ra I need a hope I can’t deny. In the end I’m realizing I was never meant to fight on my own!”]_

“So do you usually sing out loud when you’re stressed or is this just a one time thing?” Aster nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard that voice.

“K-Kite! What are you doing here?!” Kite raised an eyebrow at him. The Xyz user had approached him, but since Aster was too busy...singing he hadn’t noticed Kite until he had said something.

“This **is** my dimension, you know. I sort of live here.” Aster could feel heat raising to his cheeks.

“I…uhh…”

“So I take it that you finally understand?”

“Uhh….may-maybe a little.” Aster admitted. “I still don’t understand how dueling can be used to make people smile. Winning duels is all I ever known.”

“Well, I’m sure Yuya can help with that.” Kite turned around and began walking away. “Come on.” He called. Aster blinked a few times before stumbling after him.

“Where are we going?” Aster asked.

“You and Yuya have a duel that’s long overdue.”

“Oh.” Was all Aster said. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. “Hey, Kite? Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For...getting through to me. We….I’ve done some terrible things and made bad mistakes. You had every right to want to turn me into a card, yet you didn’t.”

“Aster, nobody is born perfect. It’s not human to not make mistakes or bad choices. I’ve made a lot myself actually.” Kite let out a sigh. “The Professor just put you and a lot of others down the wrong path.” Aster watched as Kite gripped his duel disk tightly in his hand. “I just wished I’ve learned that sooner.”

“Hey, no worries.” Aster said gently. “Those who have been turned into cards….I think we can change them back.”

“Really?” Kite quickly turned to face Aster, his eyes wide. “No joke?” Aster nods.

“Turning people into cards is just a way to capture and contain their life force. I’m not exactly sure why the Professor wants them like that. I...I never question that either.” Aster coughs awkwardly. “But umm….if we can get them back I’m sure we can find a way to change them back to their old selves.”

“So my family will be as they once were? And all the soldiers I carded?” Aster nods once more.

“Yeah.” For the first time since they’ve met Kite actually smiled and Aster didn’t understand why, but that made his heart beat a little faster.

“Thank you, Aster.”

“H-huh?!”

“You gave me hope that everything can go back normal. And I’m sure the others will think so too.” The thought of giving others hope instead of fear brought a smile to Aster’s own face.

“Hey, look! Kite’s back!” Aster looked up to see the same group from before and that included Yuya. Yuya and the others were shocked to see Aster with Kite.

“Kite, are you okay?” Yuya called down to him. Kite nods.

“I’m fine, now put the duel disks away. Aster isn’t a threat.” Kite said. Everyone looked at each other confused, but they did lower their duel disks. “Yuya, you got a calling.”

“Uhh…?” Kite let out an annoyed sigh which nearly caused Aster to laugh. Almost.

“A duel, Yuya. A duel. Aster doesn’t know what it means to duel with a smile and I figured you would be the one to show him.” A bright smile lit up Yuya’s face.

“Of course!” As Yuya raced down the rubble to join Aster Kite began leaving to watch the duel with the others.

“Good luck.” Aster was stun to hear that Kite wasn’t speaking to Yuya, but to him.

“Uhh..thanks.” Aster says, fighting to keep the raising blush from his face.

“Alright, you ready, Aster?” Yuya asked. Aster nods, activating his duel disk. Now wasn’t the time to be blushing like a schoolgirl. Now it was time to duel.


	8. Broken Wings, Broken Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Apparitionshipping (Shay Obsidian x Yuto x Yuya Sakaki)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because when Yuto spoke to Shay, it was like he was a ghost but he’s inside Yuya and it is like Yuto has possessed Yuya.

How could Shay let it all have come to this? He promise himself that he would protect Yuto.

And then he promise himself that he would also protect Yuya, the one who now harbored Yuto’s soul in his heart.

“Your Xyz monster PALES in comparison to mine!” Shay forced his head up to stare at the twisted eyes of his first love. Beside him was a pair of red eyes that carried the same malicious intent.

Gone was the fun loving entertainer that Shay had grown close to in the war.

“Would you like to do the honors, dear Yuya?”

“With pleasure, love!” Yuya exclaimed cheerfully. “Supreme King Odd-Eyes Dragon attacks your pathetic falcon!”

Shay screamed as he was sent flying off the building. Everything seem to happen in slow motion. Shay still didn’t understand.

How could he have failed? He was suppose to be the one to pull Yuto and Yuya from their darkness. Their connection was unbreakable so…

Why couldn’t he reach out to them?

The last thing Shay saw was Yuto and Yuya’s eyes. No longer were their eyes a calming gray or a beautiful red. Instead they glowed a crazed yellow.

The color of gold.


	9. The Light of the Bell's Chime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Appleshipping (Yugo x Rin)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because their portmanteau is ringo which means “apple” in Japanese.

"Come on, Rin. Let's go home." Yugo says, pulling away from the hug. Rin smiles back and nods, relieved to finally be able to leave this hellhole. Yugo turned and began to leave. Rin started to follow, only for red hot pain to piece her head. It was so sudden, and so painful, she screamed and drop to her knees. 

"Rin?!" Yugo ran back to her. "Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" Rin barely heard him. She didn't even know he was there. Her head. It was like something was clawing at her brain, trying to wiggle its way in. The thought of that made her want to throw up, but the pain overrode it.

"Yu...go..." Was the last thing Rin utter before she fell face first onto the ground, darkness claiming her vision.

"Rinrin?! Wake up!" Yugo shook her shoulder, but she didn't stir. Tears swell up in Yugo's eyes. She sounded like she was in real pain. Something was wrong with Rin and Yugo had no idea what it was. Carefully, Yugo picked up Rin and set her down on the bed that was in the corner of the room. He didn't want to stay here but at the moment, he had no choice. 

Tugging on his yellow bangs, Yugo exits the room for a moment to try and collect his thoughts and think of a plan. Right now, he was on an island with no 'real' way back home and he had no backup what so ever. He had no idea where Zuzu or that Alexis girl was so he was stuck and alone.

Just as Yugo was about to cry out in frustration, he heard footsteps. They were coming from the room. Was Rin awake? Yugo ran back in. Rin had sat up in the bed and was looking around the room.

"Rin! Y-you really scared me back there-" Yugo was cut off as Rin snaps her head around to face him. Yugo blinks. Was it just him or...was Rin glowing pink? And her eyes....they seem a bit different too. "Uhh...Rinrin? Are you...okay?" Yugo took a cautious step forward and the aura around Rin flare to life. 

Before Yugo even realized it, the aura swept forward, sending him flying straight through the tower's only window.

* * *

Rin watched as Yugo fell, her aura dying down but still quite visible. He had landed on what appears to be his Duel Runner. She didn't expect her powers to push him back that far.

But he was still breathing. 

She closed her eyes.

She could sense all four of them.

They were here.

That wasn't good.

Taking out her duel disk, Rin descended down the stairs. 

She mustn't let him revive. 

She can't.

She won't. 

* * *

The duel was fierce. she tried to appear confident. The boy, his name Yugo, was continuously calling out for 'Rin' to return. As much as she wanted to believe that this boy was harmless, she knew she couldn't. Not with his other pieces so close. She had to take him down now. Him and his dragon. 

It was her turn now and she had to make this one count. As she reached to draw a card, the green gem on the bracelet began to glow.

"W-whoa! Rin! Your bracelet!" Yugo shouted. "Since when did it shine like that?" 

She could feel it. The power of the winds and gales responding to her will to beat him. She drew her card. 

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 3]**

**Rin: 4000 LP [Hand: 2]**

**Yugo: 2500 LP [Hand: 3]**

* * *

Her eyes widen when she saw that she drew a new monster that she hasn't seen before. She smiles. Even when the four bracelets weren't together, their power was still quite remarkable. 

"Time to ice that dragon, Winter Bell! Attack!" Her Winter Bell turned around and shot out a dozen of icy arrows. 

"Grr, by banishing Tri-Eyed Dice from my Graveyard I'll save you, Clear Wing!"

"You're just delaying the inevitable." She smirks. "I activate the Spell Card, Call of the Windwitch! It lets me summon a monster from my hand whose Level is lower than my Winter Bell's, so I summon Windwitch - Aurora Bell!" 

A new Windwitch had appeared. One similar to her Tuner monster, but instead of being blue and white, the bell seem to glow with many different colors. 

* * *

**[Name: Windwitch - Aurora Bell]**

**[Level: 1]**

**[ATK: 500]**

* * *

"Aurora Bell? Since when did you have that monster, Rin?!" 

"I've always had this card. I just didn't need it until now. When Aurora Bell is Special Summon I can Fusion Summon without Polymerization!"

"You Fusion Summon?!"

"I do now!" Rin jump off of Winter Bell and began free falling. "Watch as I fuse my Windwitch - Winter Bell with my Aurora Bell! These two are gonna merge to form a monster that will send shivers down your spine! I Fusion Summon! Windwitch - Crystal Bell!" 

* * *

**[Windwitch - Crystal Bell]**

**[Level: 8]**

**[ATK: 2800]**

* * *

"Since when did you start using Fusion Monsters?!"

"Since I started wising up!" She replied, grabbing onto one of Crystal Bell's rings to stop her fall. "When I use Aurora Bell to Fusion Summon it equips itself onto Crystal Bell!"

"What's wrong with you, Rin?! You're dueling like an honor student of Leo's!" 

"You're more right than you realize." She whispers. "Crystal Bell! Attack Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" This time the attack hits home and that attack sends him right over the edge of the tower. 

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 3]**

**Rin: 4000 LP [Hand: 0]**

**Yugo: (2500 - 1550) = 950 LP [Hand: 3]**

* * *

She heard a crash, but she doesn't look back. She can't afford to feel bad. Her and Crystal Bell reached the bottom. She could see Yugo on his knees. Again, he looked to be okay. His helmet and his bike took most of the damage. 

"Get up and duel." Rin order coldly as she hop down from Crystal Bell.

"Are you serious, Rin?! Look what you done! We spent weeks, months, building this Duel Runner together! Because this was gonna be our ticket to having a real life! Riding this Duel Runner was the only time we felt free! You couldn't have forgotten that! I know you haven't!" Yugo shouted at her, tears in his eyes. She refuse to feel any guilt. Too much was riding on this duel.

"I really don't care." The shock on Yugo's face said it all. "Crystal Bell lets me use the special ability of one monster in my Graveyard. And I choose Ice Bell to send a blast of biting air directly at you. Blasting away 500 more life points!" 

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 3]**

**Rin: 4000 LP [Hand: 0]**

**Yugo: (950 - 500) = 450 LP [Hand: 3]**

* * *

"You're as bash up as that Duel Runner, while I am in perfect shape. Your life points are running low. Face it. You're through. So, I'll accept your surrender now." 

Okay, so she felt a little guilty. Yugo still thought that she was Rin. And the way he spoke about her. It seem like he really did care for her. And here she was, knocking the kid left and right. Was she...doing the right thing?

"Me? Surrender? I don't think so. If there's one thing you should have remembered about me, it's the fact that I don't give up! No matter what! I travel through dimensions just for you! And you think I'm gonna turn back? When I'm this close to the finish line?" Yugo picked up his duel disk that laid on the ground. "If I did that then the real Rin, would call me a loser!" He slammed his duel disk onto his arm, discarding his broken helmet. "And I'm not a loser!" 

"Stubborn as always....Zarc." She whisper quietly. 

"I draw!" Yugo shouted. 

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 4]**

**Rin: 4000 LP [Hand: 0]**

**Yugo: 450 LP [Hand: 4]**

* * *

"I summoning the Tuner monster, Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" 

* * *

**[Name: Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice]**

**[Level: 1]**

**[ATK: 100]**

* * *

"Next I activate the Spell Card, Shadow Stepper and use your Windwitch - Crystal Bell to my advantage! You see, it lets me bring back a monster from my Graveyard whose Level is lower than your Crystal Bell's. So Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, you're making a comeback!"

* * *

**[Name: Clear Wing Synchro Dragon]**

**[Level: 7]**

**[ATK: 2500]**

* * *

"I tune my Red-Eyed Dice with Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, to pave the way for an even mightier dragon! Watch as the essences of this monster takes shape! Watch as it is forged by raw power! I Synchro Summon! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!" 

* * *

**[Name: Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon]**

**[Level: 8]**

**[ATK: 3000]**

* * *

She was a bit stun. He had another dragon?! Guess she wasn't the only one who could get new monsters.

"Now lets do this! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon, attack! And due to its special ability, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon gains your monster's attack points! Swoop on it, Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!" 

* * *

**[Name: Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon]**

**[Level: 8]**

**[ATK: 5800]**

* * *

"Think that's gonna work? Guess you already forgot about Crystal Bell's special ability. I get to use the special ability of any monster in our Graveyards! And I choose your very own Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

"What?!"

"I'm using your own monster's ability against you to automatically destroy your Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!"

"Two can play at that game! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon's special ability destroys your monster as well!" She gritted her teeth.

"I'm still one step ahead of you! My Aurora Bell takes the fall instead of my Crystal Bell!"

"But my attack still gets through!" Crystal Wing slashed right through Aurora Bell, but the attack send her flying back. Hitting the ground with enough force to knock her for a loop.

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 4]**

**Rin: (4000 - 3000) = 1000 LP [Hand: 0]**

**Yugo: 450 LP [Hand: 2]**

* * *

When she came too, she felt someone's arms wrap around her. Who was...holding her? When she manage to open her eyes she could make out the form of...someone above her.

"Yu...go?" She open her eyes a bit more but it wasn't Yugo she was seeing. She was seeing... **him**. That silver hair, those golden eyes, that one in a million smile.

"Oh, Ray. You have such a weak heart. Your father thinks that the bracelets are the reason the world split into four, but we both know that isn't true. You wanted me to live. You wanted me to have a second chance. Even now, you're giving me a chance to surrender. It's a shame I won't show you the same kindness." 

She thought about those words for a moment before she smiled. He was right. She did have a weak heart.

Slowly, Zarc's features melted away and all that was left was Yugo. He looked so relieved to see her. His eyes edged with tears. 

"Now we don't have to fight anymore!" Yugo sobs joyfully into her shoulder as he hugged her close. 

She wasn't fooled. She wouldn't be fooled again.

"But why when you and I are still in the middle of a duel?" Yugo quickly pulled away, staring down at her confused. "When Crystal Bell is destroyed, I can bring back Winter Bell and Aurora Bell from my Graveyard."

* * *

**[Name: Windwitch - Winter Bell]**

**[Level: 7]**

**[ATK: 2400]**

* * *

**[Name: Windwitch - Aurora Bell]**

**[Level: 1]**

**[ATK: 500]**

* * *

"Rinrin?" With a smile still on her face, she shoved Yugo away and stood up. "Aurora Bell allows me to fuse these two monsters and summon Windwitch - Crystal Bell once again. Then Aurora Bell equips itself onto Crystal Bell."

* * *

**[Name: Windwitch - Crystal Bell]**

**[Level: 8]**

**[ATK: 2800]**

* * *

"Aww man, I thought this was over!"

"It is over. Crystal Bell's special ability activates. I activate Ice Bell's special ability from the Graveyard, to deal you 500 points which will wipe out all of your life points!" 

"No, wait!" Yugo cried but the attack already hit. 

* * *

** Rin vs. Yugo **

**Field: N/A**

**[Turn 4]**

**Rin: 1000 LP [Hand: 0]**

**Yugo: (450 - 500) = 0 LP [Hand: 2]**

**Outcome: Rin (Winner)**

* * *

When Rin opened her eyes the first thing she noticed was that she was outside. The second thing she noticed was that her duel disk was on her arm. Had she been...dueling? The third thing she noticed was the Duel Runner. 

It was completely smash to pieces. She was horrified. It could take **years** to fix that type of damage! Who could have done this?!

Then she spotted the helmet. Yugo's helmet to be precise. Rin bend down to pick it up. It was just as damaged as their Duel Runner. Cracks and scraps all over it. Rin's blood turned to ice. 

Where was Yugo?

"Yugo?!" Rin called, looking around. She didn't have to look far. 

He was lying on the ground on his back. Unresponsive. 

"Yugo!" Rin raced over to him, kneeling beside him. He wasn't moving. "Yugo! Please! Wake up!" She shouted. 

No response.

Rin couldn't stop her tears. 

"Wake up, you dummy! You said we were going home!" 

Nothing.

That's when she noticed the duel disk on his arm. Had Yugo been...dueling? But who? 

Then Rin remember that pain she felt before she passed out and the odd sensation of dueling when she woke up. Had...had she dueled Yugo?

Rin tried to remember what had happen, but everything was a complete blank. She couldn't have dueled Yugo. Why would she? And even if she had, she wouldn't have...hurt him. 

"Ray?"

Rin looked behind her. A middle age, tan skinned bald man was walking towards her. He wore a purple colored militaristic outfit with black buttons, a purple cape with a black ending, and a pair of gray boots. He had black gloves on his hands, but most noticeable of all was the armored plate on the left side of his head that had a red circular lens.

Rin quickly stood up as he approached. Who was this guy? He seem to know her. He had a bright smile on his face despite his creepy appearance. 

"I knew you weren't gone, Ray." 

Ray? That wasn't her name. Before she could even attempt to correct him, the man grab her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"I knew you were still there. Even if you weren't in their memories. You were so strong. Even like this, the Demon Duelist was no match for you." 

Demon Duelist? He couldn't possibly mean...Yugo?

"Professor, we came as soon as we heard your order!" A trio of guards were now standing behind the man. Rin immediately recognize them as the guys who had kidnap her and put her in the tower.

That's when everything clicked into place for her. This man, the Professor, was the one who had order her kidnapping! Rin winded up and punch the man straight in the gut, causing him to hunch over in pain. 

However, the guards were on her a second later, pining her to the ground.

"GET OFF ME!" She roared. "LET ME GO!"

"Don't hurt her!" The Professor gasped. 

"But Professor-"

"Take her to the Throne Room. Place her in capsule C." 

"What about the boy?" Rin watch the Professor spare a harsh look at Yugo.

"Throw him in the tower. Leave him to rot." 

"Yes, sir!"

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!" She struggle and fought with her captors. 

"Spray her." The Professor order, realizing how much of fight it was going to be. 

"Sir!" One of the guards answer. He pulled out a small bottle from his pocket and sprayed it right in her face. She tried not to breathe it in, but it was impossible. Soon she felt body go slack in their arms. It had numbed her.

Unable to fight back, Rin could only sob as she was separated from Yugo once again.

* * *

** Cards Used In Duels **

**RL= Real Life Version**

**OC = Fan Created**

**Anime = Anime Version**

** [Rin vs. Yugo] **

** Rin **

[OC] [Name: Windwitch - Aurora Bell] [Type: Spellcaster / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 1] [ATK/DEF: 500/500] [Effect: If this card is Special Summoned: You can Fusion Summon 1 "Windwitch" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or field as Fusion Material, including this card, then equip this card from the Graveyard to the Fusion Summoned monster. If the equipped monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect, destroy this card instead.]

[Anime] [Name: Windwitch - Winter Bell] [Type: Spellcaster / Synchro / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 7] [ATK/DEF: 2400/2000] [Summoning Conditions: 1 "Windwitch" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Windwitch" monsters] [Effects: Once per turn: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower "Windwitch" monster in your Graveyard; until the end of this turn, this effect becomes 1 of that monster's effect.]

[Anime] [Name: Windwitch - Crystal Bell] [Type: Spellcaster / Fusion / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 8] [ATK/DEF: 2800/2400] [Summoning Conditions: 1 "Windwitch" Synchro Monster + 1 "Windwitch" monster] [Effects: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; until the end of this turn, replace this effect with that monster's original effects. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 "Windwitch - Winter Bell" and 1 Level 4 or lower monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon them.]

[Anime] [Name: Windwitch - Ice Bell] [Type: Spellcaster / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 3] [ATK/DEF: 1000/1000] [Effect: Once per turn: If this card was Normal or Special Summoned this turn: You can inflict 500 damage to your opponent.]

[Anime] [Name: Call of the Windwitch] [Type: Quick-Play Spell] [Effect: During either player's Battle Phase: Target 1 "Windwitch" monster you control: Special Summon 1 monster from your hand with a Level less than or equal to that monster's, but it cannot attack.]

** Yugo **

[Anime] [Name: Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice] [Type: Machine / Tuner / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 3] [ATK/DEF: 300/1500] [Effect: When an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; negate the attack.]

[Anime] [Name: Clear Wing Synchro Dragon] [Type: Dragon / Synchro / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 7] [ATK/DEF: 2500/2000] [Summoning Conditions: 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters] [Effects: During either player's turn, if a Level 5 or higher monster activates its effect on the field, or a monster effect is activated that targets a Level 5 or higher monster(s) on the field: You can target 1 of those monsters that activated its effect; negate its effect, and if you do, destroy it, then this card gains ATK equal to the ATK the destroyed monster had on the field until the end of this turn.]

[Anime] [Name: Red-Eyed Dice] [Type: Machine / Tuner / Effect] [Attribute: WIND] [Level: 1] [ATK/DEF: 100/100] [Effects: If this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 other Level 1 monster you control and declare a Level from 2 to 6; it becomes that Level.]

[Anime] [Name: Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon] [Type: Dragon / Synchro / Effect] [Level: 8] [ATK/DEF: 3000/2500] [Summoning Conditions: 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monster, including at least 1 Level 5 or higher Synchro Monster] [Effects: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can target 1 monster on the field that activated its effect in this Chain; negate that monster's effects, and if you do, destroy it, then this card gains ATK equal to the ATK the destroyed monster had on the field until the end of this turn. If this card battles a Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls, during damage calculation: This card gains ATK equal to the current ATK of the opponent's monster it is battling during that damage calculation only.] 

[Anime] [Name: Shadow Stepper] [Type: Normal Spell] [Effects: Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; Special Summon 1 monster from your Graveyard that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck with a Level less than or equal to the targeted monster's, but its effects are negated.]


	10. You Have Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Main Ship: Artemishipping (Yuri x Yuya Sakaki x Celina)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because they all have something in common with the goddess. Artemis was the Greek Goddess of the Moon and Hunting and her main weapon was the bow and arrow. Celina plays a Moonlight/Lunalight deck, Yuri thinks of his mission as a hunting game, and Yuya has the kanji for arrow in his name.

Standing outside the hospital door was Celina. Beside her was Yuya Sakaki. The war had finally ended and they had put a stop to Zarc. However, to Celina, there was still one last challenge she had to face before she could move on.

“Celina…” Celina felt Yuya’s hand slip into her own. “Remember, I’m right behind ya.” His voice was calming to her.

“Thanks Yuya.” Celina knocked on the door. “Yuri, are you awake?” She could hear movement in the room, like someone was shifting in the bed.

“Yes?” Celina took a breath.

“I’m coming in.” Without waiting for a response, Celina grabbed the doorknob and opened it. The room looked like any other hospital room. Sitting in the hospital bed was Yuri.

Celina’s partner.

After Zarc was defeated they found the Dragon Boys passed out on the ground. They were all taken to the Standard Dimension for treatment. Yuya was the first to wake up, followed by Yugo and Yuto. Yuri only woke up this morning and so tests were still being ran on him to make sure he was healthy.

In Yuri’s lap was a book that he has read a good way into. He raised a delicate eyebrow upon seeing her. His curiosity rose when he spotted Yuya behind her in the hallway.

“Celina? Yuya? What brings you two?” Yuri asked. Celina’s mouth went dry.

Damn it!

She faced the Demon Duelist with literally no fear, but she couldn’t face her own partner?! Yuya seem to sense this and decided to speak for her.

“She came here, to apologize to you.” Yuya said, stepping into the room. The door shut behind him.

“To...me?” Yuri now seem confused. “For what? Leaving me or loving you?”

“W-what?! No! Don’t be stupid, Yuri!” Celina stammered. Yuri rolled his eyes.

“Celina, I know you like a book.” Yuri shut the book on his lap for emphasis. “We’ve been partners for years. When I got word that you joined the Lancers I knew you weren’t going to last long.”

“Excuse me?!”

“And then I saw you.” Yuri continued, ignoring Celina’s outrage comment and looking over at Yuya. “The reason why Celina could fight against the odds, could go against everything her whole life once was, was because of you.” Celina gritted her teeth.

“You don’t know me at all! The reason why I turned against Academia was because I learned that what we were doing was wrong! We were destroying homes and ripping apart families! They were calling us monsters and I just...didn’t want that for...us.” Celina looked away, suddenly unable to look him in the eye. Yuri was quiet for a moment.

“Stop lying to yourself, Celina.” Celina looked up sharply at that.

“I think **I** know how **I** FEEL, Yuri.”

“No, you **think** you know how you feel. Celina, I wasn’t as far away as you thought. I see the way you look at him.” Yuri nods at Yuya, who was standing in the corner quietly. “I see the way he makes you smile. The way he builds you up. He’s my better half.” Yuya opened his mouth to protest, but Yuri shuts him down with a glare. “Of course I was jealous. It’s why I wanted to card you last.” Yuri lean back against his pillows like this conversation was perfectly casual. “I wanted to make you both suffer. But when you were dueling Zarc, I realized something.”

“And that would be?” Celina asked.

“During the last turn, you four started calling to us but we didn’t respond. Not because we couldn’t hear you, but because we just couldn’t. Zarc wouldn’t allow us.” Celina’s eyes widen. “Rin called out to Yugo, Lulu called out to Yuto, Zuzu called out to Yuya, and you, well...you also called out to Yuya.”

“It isn’t like that, Yuri. I thought...that you were gone. The last time I saw you, you had went completely insane!”

“Calm down. I’m not blaming you for anything.”

“I never..! I…! You…!” Celina’s mouth kept on trying to make sentences but her mind wasn’t quite sure on how to form them. “Grr….WHY THE HELL DO YOU MAKE THINGS SO DAMN DIFFICULT?!” Yuri just blinked at her calmly, unfazed by her outburst.

“Fine then. Let me make this simple. I’m not upset that you fell in love with Yuya. I’m not upset that you are leaving me for him…”

“WHO SAID I WAS DOING THAT, YOU DUMBASS?!” Celina shouted. “I love you, Yuri but we were just on the wrong side!” Before Yuri could say anything else Celina turned on her heels and left, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Well then.” Yuri said after a bit of silence. “That went well.” He then processed to pick up his book and continued where he left off. Yuya, who had remained quiet during the entire conversation spoke up.

“She really does love you, you know." Yuri glances up at his counterpart.

“Before, maybe, but now?” Yuri shakes his head.

“No. She loved you then and she still loves you now. It was hard for her in the beginning.”

“But then she met you.”

“Yeah, I made it a little easier for her.” Yuya admitted. “But that didn’t changed how she felt about you. Even during the end, it really hurt her because she really thought you were gone.”

“Look, Yuya. I don’t have a problem with you being with Celina. As long as you take care of her and treat her right.”

“Same goes for you.” Yuri just stared at Yuya for a moment.

“Sure. Whatever. Now can I please go back to my reading?” Yuri asked as he opened his book. Suddenly he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist.

“You and Celina both need healing, but you both will be okay. You have each other, and you have me.”

“I swear, you are the strangest counterpart.” Yuri said, rolling his eyes. Yuya looked up at him and smiled. Seeing that smile may have made Yuri cheeks heat up a little bit.

“From you, that’s a compliment.”


	11. The Blood Moon Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Asraishipping (Celina x Saya Sasayama)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because an asrai is a type of fae that only appears at night to swim in moonlight and cannot live in sunlight, related to Saya's fairy deck and Celina's Lunalight deck / moonlight theme. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I 100% rip this off of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil

"Celina, are you sure you have to go?" Saya whispers worriedly, tapping her fingers together. "The Underworld is a pretty dangerous place." 

"Oh don't worry so much, Saya. Celina will be with us the entire night." Lulu smiled at her friend kindly as she continued to run a brush through her sister's indigo color hair. 

"And also the Dragon Knights will be with us." Zuzu added. "We couldn't be any safer." 

"Yuri may act indifferent, but he cares for Celina just as much as all of us. He wouldn't let anything happen to her and vice verse for his brothers." Rin insisted, trying on a new pair of boots. 

"Of course, you're also welcome to join us, Saya. The Blood Moon Ball is open to all." Lulu suggests. Saya immediately shakes her head.

"N-no thanks, Lulu. It's just-"

"It's fine, Saya." Celina interrupts. "Honestly, I would rather sit at home but I do owe it to Lulu since she got me out of that arranged marriage with Declan." 

"Indeed." Lulu giggled. "But I'm only doing this for your own good, you know. You haven't been out in six months. And no, going to the Heart Cafe with Saya does not count. That place is literally a second home to you guys." Lulu sighs as Celina opens her mouth to object.

"Regardless, it's alright, Saya. I'm not gonna drag you to something you don't want to do." Once Lulu is done with her hair, Celina stands up, fidgeting with her silk dress. "Let's get this over with." 

* * *

"So what do you think of the ball so far?" Lulu asked. Celina took a sip of the tasteless punch in her cup and shook her head.

"Completely dull and a waste of my night." Celina replied. Lulu rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's not like you're trying to have fun. I mean, just look at Zuzu and Rin." Lulu pointed towards the dance floor. Among the dancing couples were Rin and Shay. Rin looked completely at home in Shay's arms. On the other side of the room were Zuzu and Gong. The only thing, in Celina's opinion, that was slightly amusing this entire night was watching her little sister leading the much larger man in a graceful dance. "I thought dancing was your bread and butter." 

"It is, but not tonight." Celina mutters. From the corner of her eyes she could see Sylvio sulking in the corner with his buddies. He had been trying all night to get Celina to dance with him, but she shot him down each and every time. 

"Oh, so you do believe in the Curse of the Blood Moon." Lulu noted. Celina tilted her head up towards the sky light. From the glass she could see the red crescent moon staring down at them ominously. 

"It would be foolish not too. If you are caught underneath the glow of the Blood Moon, your soul is intertwine with your partner's for the rest of time. I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to make that kind of commitment."

"But the curse only happens once every 667 years. The chances of it happening on this particular night are pretty slim." Celina shakes her head.

"Not gonna chance it. Sorry. No." Lulu sighs just as Kite Tenjo approaches.

"Good evening, ladies." 

"Oh, hello Kite. Good evening to you too. Are you enjoying the ball?" Lulu asked. 

"It's nothing like what we have back home, but it will do. Would either of you like to dance?" Kite asked, holding out his hand. Even though Kite was talking to both of them Celina knew he was only referring to Lulu.

"Go for it, Romeo." Celina said, gesturing at her sister. 

"Sorry about that. My sister can be a bit picky with her dance partners. But I would be more than happy to dance with you, Kite." Lulu placed her hand in Kite's. 

"Much appreciated, Lulu." Kite smiled softly as he led her to the dance floor. After watching everyone dance for a bit longer Celina sighed and sets down her cup. It was about time she headed home. She stayed out for a few hours like Lulu wanted, but now she has had enough of this place and was looking forward to sleeping this night off.

Celina spotted Yuri and the other Dragon Knights on the other side of the ballroom, chatting with a few of their friends. Even though they looked to be caught up in their conversations, everyone knew that the knights always kept an eye on their princesses. No matter the situation or occasion. Celina began to make her way towards them when suddenly, someone grabbed her hand.

"Celina! There you are!" Celina turned around to face the one who had grabbed her.

"Saya?" Almost in the exact same moment, the dim lights of the ballroom suddenly flicker off. Celina stared up as the moon bathe them in a red glow. Unable to control her body, Celina reached with her other hand and grabbed Saya's. Before either of them could react, they began dancing. 

The other couples moved away from the dancing floor, watching in wonder and awe as Celina and Saya twirled around the ballroom, each step precise and perfect, almost as if the two of them had been training for this very moment. A few began to whisper about the curse. Celina blinks, realizing what was happening.

"S-Saya? Saya, what are you doing here?"

"I-I decided to take up L-Lulu's invitation." Saya answer as Celina lets go of her left hand for a moment so that she could perform an underarm turn. "I-I thought you could use the company since large gatherings isn't really your cup of tea." Celina then notice the dress Saya was in, It was a plain pastel purple ball gown but it suited her quite nicely. 

Her green and orange hair clips had been removed, allowing her lilac hair to frame her face, but she kept her glasses. Her gloves were also gone, allowing Celina to run her thumb over the soft skin.

"You look nice."

"T-Thanks! Grace really helped me out with my outfit and stuff." Saya smiled.

"I'm glad you're here." Celina whispers after a bit.

"O-Oh, really?" Saya lets out a sigh of relief. "That's good. I-I thought I would have been a bother to you and the others if I had shown up." Celina's lips twitch up into a smile as she brings Saya closer to her.

"You could never be a bother, Saya. Never." After what felt like an eternity of dancing, the blood moon's light finally began to fade and the lights of the ballroom came back on. The applause from the other guests brought Saya and Celina back to reality. Saya blinked at her friend a few times, not quite sure what had just happen.

"W-what did we just...do?" Saya asked as she took her hands back from Celina's.

"Oh...uhh...nothing much. It's just that our souls have now formed an unbreakable bond for the rest of time." Saya's eyes widen.

"OUR SOULS HAVE WHAT?!"


	12. To Whoever It May Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Astroshipping (Dipper O'rion x Celina)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because of their deck themes relating to astronomical objects (the stars and the moon).

It was the night of the Moon Festival and everyone was excited, humans and duel monsters alike. This was a special night to give thanks to the Goddess Celina and her Lunalight monsters.

"Are you sure you don't want to go, Dipper?" Kit asked. 

"Yeah. I'm sure. I got too much work to do anyway." 

"Work? All you're doing is chipping away at the same star." Julia pointed out. 

"All stars have to be perfect like their creator." Julia and Kit rolled their eyes.

"Alright Dipper. Suit yourself."

"You'll know where we are." 

"Uh-huh." And soon enough Dipper was left alone. Left alone to toil and work on his little glimmering stars. Stars that nobody appreciated. The more the God thought about it, the more bitter he became. 

_"So she can lift and raise the moon. Big deal."_ Dipper thought as he chip away another piece of the star. _"I on the other hand am working my butt off to micromanage 5,000 stars in the galaxy with hardly any help! But do I get a festival in my honor? No! She only got that job because she's one of the Heavenly Eight and she knows it. Just like Yuya and the rest of them."_ Dipper's jealousy burned through him. He knew he really shouldn't be jealous. 

Every God and Goddess played a crucial roll in the stable state of the universe, but this has been going on for thousands of years. Everyone always praised Celina's moon but never his stars! Not only did his stars provide light just like the moon, his stars also provided ways for the humans to navigate their world and even tell time. Heck! He even created constellations for their amusement and it still wasn't good enough!

It wasn't just because he was a lesser God compare to Celina. Even his friends were admired for their work constantly. Julia's gemstones were claimed to be even more beautiful than Zuzu's flowers. And any weapon created by Kit's hands was the finest quality and a grand honor to even just hold the item.

Dipper stared down at the glowing ball of light on the table. His work. His creation. With an annoyed snarl Dipper threw his hand across the table, causing everything to shatter to the floor.

What was the point of all this?

Clearly, they didn't need him.

They never needed him. 

* * *

Celina knocked on the door.

"Dipper, it's me. Open up. I got some slices of Moon Pie. Maybe you can tell me why you didn't show up to the festival while we reheat them." Celina waited a few moment, but received no answer. Julia and Kit did tell her he was being a little moody when they left. She knocked again.

"Come on, Dipper! Are you mad at me or something? What's the big deal?" Still no answer. Okay, now she was getting a bit concern. Dipper never stayed quiet for this long. "Dipper, you better open this door or I will break it down!"

Nothing.

"Okay. Fine. Have it your way." Celina set down her bag and placed a well aimed kick at the wooden door, causing it to fall off its hinges. Inside the house was dark and Celina froze for a moment. Perhaps the reason why Dipper wasn't answering was because he wasn't actually home.

"Shit." Celina cursed as she turned on the first couple of lights to assess the damage. Dipper was probably going to need a new door. Well...at least they had something to talk about when he got home. Celina grab her bag and went to the kitchen to set it on the table. As she did she spotted a piece of paper there. It looked...out of place. Celina glance at the opening sentence.

**To Whoever It May Concern:**

That caught her attention. She quickly read over the note. As soon as she did, she bolted for Dipper's workshop, a room connected to his bedroom.

Everything looked normal except his main work bench was a complete mess. 

_"No. There's no way that dumb ass actually left."_ Celina thought as she rushed back outside. She expected this to be a prank of some sort. She would run outside, Dipper would pop around the corner laughing about how frantic she looked, Celina would probably punch him in the face for it, and the universe would be back in order. However, that didn't happen. In fact, something much worse happen instead.

A star went out.

Celina saw it go out. 

She waited a few minutes. And then another one went out. 

And then another.

And another.

One by one, stars were going out. 

This was not good.


	13. Duel Mates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Astrologyshipping (Dipper O'rion x Aura Sentia)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because astrology is a form of fortune telling / divination using stars. Aura is a fortune teller, while Dipper has a star theme. 

“So you three would like your fortunes told, yes?” Madam Divina asked. Her voice was low and mystic. Honestly, that freaked Dipper out more. Her looks didn’t help either. The lady was dressed in nothing but black with a thin veil that covered up the entire lower half of her face aside from her piercing turquoise eyes.

“Yeah.” Julia nods. She was the one who had dragged him and Kit here. He didn’t understand why she couldn’t go alone. Heck! He didn’t understand why she even wanted her fortune told! But whatever.

Girls will be girls.

“Very well then. You.” Madam Divina points at Julia with a slender finger. “Come with me. You.” She then points her finger at Kit. “Wait outside.” Kit looked mildly insulted but didn’t push on it.

“Alright. Come on, Dipper. Let’s leave Julia to her fortune or whatever.” Dipper was more than happy to oblige.

“NO!” Madam Divina’s voice boomed. At least to Dipper it did. “The other shall stay here.”

“Huh? Why?” Dipper asked as he turned to face the lady.

“Your destiny is written all over your face. You shall see one of my students.” Divina said.

“Umm...that’s okay. I don’t really want…”

“Do you dare question fate?” Divina asked, her voice now lower than before. Almost threatening.

“Well, umm...I...uhh…”

“Dipper, just do it.” Julia said, not at all fazed by the woman’s tone. “It’s not like you would take it seriously anyway.” Dipper sighed.

“Fine, but only because I have literally nothing else to do until you’re done.” Divine pointed to a wall that was covered by a black curtain. Dipper was once again confused until he pushed back the curtain to reveal a doorway.

“The girl with the crystal apple is the one you seek.” Dipper enters the hallway. As the curtain falls shut behind him, the hallway is completely shrouded in darkness aside from a dim light that is further down the hallway. Slowly Dipper begins to walk, his footsteps echoing back at him hauntingly. As if this place couldn’t get any creepier.

Just as Dipper is about to turn and just leave he spotted another curtain door. The dim lights were coming from some set of lit candles that were placed on either side of the hall, away from the curtains.

 _“Still probably a fire hazard, but whatever.”_ Dipper thought as he pushed through the dark curtains. Waiting on the other side was a girl. A girl that looked like she should still be in elementary school. She had red curly hair with a purple ribbon tied on top of her head. She also had the most striking green eyes Dipper has ever seen.

She wore a mostly purple flowing dress, and what appears to be a white blouse underneath, with a pink ribbon on her collar and a yellow coin-shaped pendant. She was sitting at a table and in the middle of the table was a clear, crystal apple. Now Madam Divina’s words made sense.

The girl with the crystal apple. So was Dipper going to get his fortune read by a ten year old?

“Welcome.” The girl greeted. “Madam Divina has sent you to me so that I can read your destiny. Please, have a seat.” Dipper complies, seeing no way out of it. The girl then produces a set of cards from nowhere and places them on the left of her.

She grabs the top three and sets them in front of Dipper. One to his left, the next right in front of him, and the last to his right.

“Are you ready to have your fortune told?” Dipper shrugs.

“Sure. Why not?” The girl then flips over the leftmost card. The deck wasn’t one Dipper was familiar with. It wasn’t like a regular deck of cards, nor was it Duel Monsters. “This set of cards will represents you. This will show me what kind of person you are.” Dipper frowned. It was still quite dark in the room so he couldn’t exactly make out the image on the card. Regardless, he saw nothing of himself on it.

“I fail to see how.”

“Well…” The girl sat up a bit straighter. “This card tell me that you a strong duelist and you take great pride in it.” Dipper smirked at that. Of course he was. Anybody could tell him that just by glancing at him. She flipped over the center card.

“However, as big as your pride is, it is also quite fragile. This also makes you quite arrogant.” Dipper fell out of his seat.

“Ex...excuse me?!” He shouted, but she continued on. She flipped over the last card.

“Oh!” Her eyes widen a bit. “But it seems that this isn’t the case anymore.”

“Eh?”

“Something life changing had happened to you, making you rethink everything that you knew about yourself. Your pride is still an issue, but you are now less arrogant and mindful of the world around you.” The girl then picked up her cards. “In a sense, you have grown.”

“Of course I have.” Dipper counter hotly. “Like I needed any growth.” He muttered. The girl gave him a look that an adult might give to an over dramatic child.

“What?!”

“Nothing. Let’s move on.” The girl shuffled the deck. “Now what would you like to know about?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to know your future? Your past life? Your wealth? Your marriage? Your children? Your…”

“Wait, you can read my love life?” Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow. The girl smirked at him.

“Of course I can. I can’t tell you **who** it is exactly, but I can get pretty darn close.” Dipper would be lying if he said he wasn’t interesting in knowing if anyone was into him. As much as a awesome duelist that he was no one has really shown ‘that’ sort of interest in him. “I take it that you want to know your love life.”

“Y..yeah. N..not like there is anything else to look at. I already know that my life is pretty much perfect.” Dipper said, looking away awkwardly. The girl rolled her eyes, but Dipper didn’t see. She once again took the top 3 cards and set them back up in the same order as before.

She flipped over the first one and suddenly her eyes began sparkling.

“Aww~” She gushed.

“What?! What is it?!” Dipper asked eagerly.

“According to this card you’re going to find your soul mate no problem!”

“Really! Sweet!” The girl flips over the next card.

“Oh! Even better! She’s very close by. You should know her.”

“I do?” Dipper’s first thoughts were Julia, but then he quickly dismissed it. Him and Julia? No way. They were great friends but that’s about it. The girl flipped over the last card.

“Eh?”

“What is it now?” The girl was staring at the last card in confusion.

“Let’s...Let's try this again.” The girl took back the cards and shuffled the deck again and resetting the cards. One by one she flipped them over but according to the girl, it was the exact same ones.

“Well, why are you so confused? What does that last one mean?” Dipper asked.

“The last one is suppose to give me a...a name or some type of clue to go off of.”

“So what? You can’t read it?” The girl looked offended like Dipper had just called her stupid or something.

“Of course I can read it! It’s just…” The girl shook her head. “Never mind. We’ll try something else.” The girl put away the deck and now took out a purple square cloth. She picked up the crystal apple and set the cloth down below it. “Now put your hand on the apple.”

“Seriously?”

“Are you really questioning my abilities?”

“Fine. Fine.” Dipper muttered, placing his palm on top of the glass fruit. It was cold beneath his touch. The girl then placed her hand over his’s and closed her eyes. It was quiet for a long while. Dipper didn’t know what she was doing. Then suddenly the apple beneath his palm began to heat up. At first it started out luke warm but slowly the heat began to build up until Dipper had to physically yank his hand off it before he burns himself.

“What the hell-!” Dipper paused from his yelling when he saw the girl staring intensely into her apple.

“Oh wow. If you didn’t know who she was from the clues before, you’re certainly going to meet her soon enough.”

“What do you mean?” The girl looked up at him.

“What I’m saying is that you two are going to meet each other soon. On the field of battle. You’re participating in the Junior Cup Championship, right?”

“Of course.”

“Well, you two are going to face each other there.”

“Really?! Who’s gonna win?!”

“I can’t tell you that much.” The girl said, rolling her eyes. “In fact that’s all I can tell you. The rest is up to you to figure out on your own.”

“Man, that’s lame.” An annoyed vein pop out of the girl’s head. “But what about that last card? You said you could read it but you haven’t…” The vein disappeared and the next thing Dipper knew he was being shoved back into the hallway.

“So sorry, but that’s all the time I have for today. You should leave and get ready for that championship.” And just like that the girl was gone. Dipper rubbed his head in confusion. What was that all about? Dipper wanted some more answers, but decided that the fortune teller did have a point.

He did need to get ready for the championship. He probably would have been done by now if Julia hadn’t dragged him to this thing in the first place. But if she hadn’t, then he might not have known that his ‘soul mate’ would be in the championship as well which meant that he definitely had to make a good impression.

Smirking, Dipper continued down the hall where his friends would be waiting.

The next day, Dipper learned the name of his first opponent.

Her name was Aura Sentia.


	14. Liar, Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Athenashipping (Gloria Tyler x Celina)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because Athena is a greek goddess of war, related to Gloria’s Amazons and her and Celina's status as duel soldiers, and Athena is also associated with owls, which come out at night like Celina's moon theme.

“You’re getting better.”

“Clearly not.” Celina huffed, sitting down on a bench. “According to the Professor.” Gloria frowned. She didn’t understand why Leo was denying Celina’s request. All she wanted to do was join her fellow comrades in battle.

Celina’s grades were top notch and despite her age, she was one of the best duelists at the school. Probably even good enough to go up against the Professor’s ace student, Yuri.

Leo said this was for Celina’s 'own good’. But Gloria didn’t have a clue what he meant. Celina could definitely handle herself fine on the battlefield. Gloria would know. She has went up against Celina and her Lunalight monsters many times now and surprisingly, Celina usually came out on top. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it so much. You’re probably the Professor’s ace in the hole.” Gloria said, sitting down next to Celina. “He’s probably waiting to give you a special mission. Something only the best of the best can do.”

“Then what the hell is Yuri?” Celina asked, giving Gloria a look.

“Yuri is just a kid who can wipe out the weak easily. It doesn’t matter if we lose him. He’s probably saving you for the big guys.” Gloria said nonchalantly. Celina was quiet for a moment. Gloria looked down at her to see that she was frowning.

“I still don’t understand. Why are the other dimensions being so stubborn?” Celina asked.

“What do you mean?” Gloria questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re just trying to unite the dimensions together peacefully. Why are the other dimensions so vicious?” Celina looked up at her. Gloria blinked a few times to make sure that she had heard right. Unite the dimensions? That wasn’t what Leo told her. They were carding people from the other dimensions so that the Fusion Dimension is the only one that remains.

 _“We don’t have to worry about invasions from other dimensions if we’re the ones invading.”_ Leo had once said to her. Gloria opens her mouth to correct Celina when she saw those large green eyes staring up at her. They held so much innocence. It was then that Gloria understood what the Professor meant.

Celina didn’t know the true reason why the war was going on. But why would Leo lie to her?

“We’re just trying to make the world a better place for everyone. Is that so wrong?” Celina continued. Gloria wanted to correct her. She really did but...how would Celina react to finding out that **they** were the ones creating the war and destruction?

Would...would Celina turn against them? The girl did have a strong sense of justice. If so….then she would most likely try and escape. To fight for the other side. Gloria shook her head.

Now she understood why Leo said what he said to her.

And Gloria was all for it.

“Yeah. Those other dimensions can be pretty horrible. Which is why it’s a good thing that we have duelists like you for just in case it’s too much for us to handle.” Gloria said, standing up. “I should go. My sister is probably looking for me.”

“Alright. See ya around. And be careful. I heard those Xyz rebels can be tricky with those Rank-Up Spells.” Celina said. Gloria smirked.

“Thanks. I will.”


	15. Scars of War and Bonds of Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Attendshipping (Zuzu Boyle x Yuya Sakaki x Gong Strong)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because the three of them will watch out for each other, Gong took care of Yuya when he was younger, Zuzu was there by Yuya’s side when he wouldn’t wake up after meeting Yugo and Yuto or attend to each others duels, and Yuya would always be there to care for both.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

“But...but Zuzu…”

“GET OUT! GET OUT!”

The nurses had to escort Yuya and Gong out of the room.

“What’s wrong with her?!” Yuya cried.

“Nothing, sir. Ms. Boyle might be a victim of...of PTSD.”

“PTSD?” Declan had said something similar to him before.

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. And you’re the trigger.” The nurse explained.

“The trigger?!” Yuya gasped. “But how?” Zuzu’s screams were getting louder in the background.

“I have to go now. We’ll give you details on her condition later.” And then the nurse was gone, the doors swinging shut behind her. Gong turned towards Yuya, trying to find some sort of words to comfort him, but his voice died when he saw Yuya’s face.

The boy looked so dejected. His goggles already pulled over his eyes, a clear sign that Yuya wasn’t in his best mood. Yuya then began walking and Gong had no choice but to follow.

Most of their friends and teammates had headed back to their home dimensions at this point. Only leaving Yuya and Zuzu’s parents, Sylvio, Declan, baby Riley, and the Shadow Brothers to watch Zuzu’s recovery along with Gong and Yuya.

It all started during Yuya’s duel against his father. The two were putting on an amazing performance, but then out of nowhere, Zuzu just started crying and screaming. According to Skip and Sylvio, who were near her at the time, she was screaming about Z-ARC. Yuya couldn’t understand why until Declan said Zuzu might have PTSD.

Zuzu was taken to a hospital after that. They probably should have had her checked out the moment she revived, but Yuya was so caught in his dueling that the thought had slipped him. When it came time to visit Skip, Zuzu’s father, went first and when he came back, of course Gong and Yuya went next.

“Whoa! What happen?” Sylvio asked, immediately spotting Yuya’s composure. “I thought you would have been happy to see Zuzu well.”

“Is something wrong?!” Skip gasped worriedly. “I was just with her and she was fine!”

“The nurses said Zuzu has PTSD and Yuya might be a trigger for her.” Gong explained.

“That’s what I was afraid of. Especially with Zarc taking your form in the final fight. It must be hard for her.” Declan sighed.

“But that wasn’t Yuya.” Moon Shadow pointed out.

“It was, yet it wasn’t.” Yusho murmured gently. “As different as they are, Yuya was still a part of Zarc. Even you all have to admit that.” Gong hates to say that Mr. Sakaki was right.

Sometimes, it was hard to believe that Zarc was really gone. Even though baby Riley was living proof. Yuya just….had his face and even though everyone knew Zarc was everything Yuya wasn’t, it was difficult to only see just Yuya and not anyone else. Even Gong would find himself tensing up around the small Pendulum user just on instincts alone.

“She hates me.” Yuya said, his voice cracking.

“Don’t be silly, Yuya. Of course Zuzu doesn’t.” Yoko said comfortingly as she hugged her child. “She’s just going through a rough time. The Dimensional War wasn’t easy for anyone.” Yuya hugged his mother back, crying into her shirt.

When Zuzu was revived, Gong thought that everything could go back to normal. But today made him realize that nothing could ever be normal again.

* * *

“I’m trying as hard I can, but….” Zuzu’s voice broke. “All I see...is Zarc sometimes.” Zuzu sniffed and wiped at her eyes, but Gong could see the tears still pouring down them. “And I know that isn’t his fault! None of this is….I just…I can’t duel with him anymore. It’s hard to even say hi. And it even gets so bad that I can’t be in the same room with him anymore!”

Zuzu had be released from the hospital, diagnosed with PTSD. She was given medicine and she sees a therapist every other day, but despite all the help she was getting Zuzu didn’t seem to be getting any better.

Leo suspects that because Ray was revived as Zuzu, Zuzu now carried some, if not, all of Ray’s memories without even knowing it. It would explain the strange, nightmarish dreams Zuzu describes having almost every night.

“G-Gong, I’m not sure how long I can keep this up.” Zuzu choked out, her face buried in her hands. Gong then wrapped his arms around the smaller girl and held her to his chest as she cried.

“It’s going to be alright, Zuzu. Gong promises.” Gong wasn’t sure why he said that. It wasn’t just Zuzu who was having trouble dealing with her scars of the war.

Yuya was facing his own depression and it was hard. Despite Zuzu reviving, Yuya felt like he has done more harm than good for her by doing that. Couple that with the fact that a few people are still scared of Yuya and you have the recipe for a boy who isn’t in the best of spirits.

Gong has tried to perk up Yuya as best he could as well as their other friends, but as hard as they try it was hard to keep a smile on Yuya’s face.

“Gong, please….no matter what….no matter what me or Yuya say to you...don’t let us forget our friendship.”

“Of course, Zuzu. Of course.”


	16. Love on the Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Aurorashipping (Celina x Rin)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because aurora is born by solar wind and it looks like wind breeze in the night, and can be seen for example next to the moon. Rin has wind theme and Celina moon theme.

"I can't believe you talked me into this." Celina gripes, clinging to the railing of the skating rink with one hand and holding onto Rin with the other. Rin holds back a bubble of laughter that threatens to escapes her. She knows what would happen if she started laughing now. Celina would become too embarrassed to continue and that's not what she wanted. 

"You're doing great, Celina!" Rin cheers. "There's no rush. Just take it nice and slow." 

"Nice and slow, huh? So the opposite of your driving?" Celina jokes as she takes another gliding step forward on the ice, her legs shaking. 

"Hey, my driving isn't that bad!" 

"Remind me again how many speeding tickets you had to paid this past year?" 

"It's not my fault they put the limit so low! I got places to go, people to see, beautiful girls to teach how to skate." Rin smirks as Celina begins to blush. 

"S-shut up! Stop flirting and teach me how to skate already!" Celina snaps, although there is no venom to her words. 

Once they had made it halfway around, Rin stops and points across the ice rink.

"Do you think you're ready to let go of the railing and skate freely?"

"Are you insane? Heck no!"

"What if I was holding onto both your hands?" Rin pushes. Celina thinks about this for a moment.

"Swear on your deck you won't let me go." 

"I swear I won't let you go." Rin's hand tightens around Celina's. "Never."

"Alright. Alright." Taking a deep breath, Celina reluctantly releases the railing and quickly grabs onto Rin's other hand. Rin moved forward a little so that she was completely facing her. 

"That's it. Just glide forward." There was a few close calls, but Rin manage to keep Celina on her feet. When they had reach the other side they skated back across the ice again. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of people at the rink so the girls could skate back and forth with little effort. 

Once Rin had felt Celina had built up a steady rhythm and her legs were no longer shaking she decided that she was ready for the next step.

"Hey, you think we can one hand it now?" Celina bites her lip.

"I...don't know..."

"I'll still be holding onto you. I'll just be skating next to you instead of in front is all. I'll still be there to catch you if you fall." Celina takes in another breath.

"Okay. Fine." Rin slowly lets go of Celina's right hand and slides into place by her side. Aside from the grip on Rin's one hand tightening, Celina's pace and stature remain the same. "Oh, wow." Celina breathes to herself as they skated around the rink without any faults.

"See! I told you could do it!" Rin praises. "Are you ready for me to let go?"

"No. No." Celina's grip was less suffocating now, but still tight. "I like this." Rin smiles.

"Good." Celina gives Rin a confused look. "I already swore I was never going to let go." Celina's blush returns and she looks down at the ice as Rin giggles.

"Why do I even like your dumb ass?" 

"What can I say? Charm runs in the family. That and good looks."


	17. Behind the Scenes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Main Ship: Bambooshipping (Yuya Sakaki x Iggy Arlo)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because they fought in a bamboo field and Iggy attacked Yuya with bamboo during their duel a few times.

"Can you believe this?! Yusho casted me as the annoying fortune teller girl!" Aura furiously waved her script in the air. "Do you have any idea how demeaning that is?! What's the point of having a female lead if **I'm** not one of them?!" Dipper rubs his forehead, hoping to get rid of the migraine that was slowly forming.

He loves his girlfriend. He really does. But her fits can be downright painful at times.

"Aura, you know Yusho only has everyone's best interests at heart. And you do suit that role."

"EXCUSE ME?!" Aura screech, causing Dipper to wince.

"N-not like that! You're not annoying! I-I was just meaning the fortune teller part! I swear!" Aura glares at him for a moment before looking away with a huff. Dipper sighed. "Aura, come on. I know you wanted to play the role of the lead female but we both know Zuzu is more suited for that part than anyone else here." Aura continued to ignore him and stayed like that until Julia appeared around the corner.

"I'm going to go talk to Julia, so you, mister, better have a different attitude when I get back." And she marched away. Dipper sighed, knowing that Aura would complain to her and Julia would tell her the exact same thing he did, starting her fit all over again. Deciding to hide in the dressing room, Dipper headed further backstage where he saw Dennis leaning against the wall, next to the door.

"Hey Dennis." Dipper greeted as he placed his hand on the knob to open it.

"I wouldn't go in if I were you." Dennis spoke, looking up.

"Huh? Why?" 

"AGGGHHHH!" An inhuman scream came from within the room, causing Dipper to jerk his hand away.

"What the hell was that?!" 

"That was Iggy." Dennis chuckles. 

"Iggy?" Something smashes inside the room, causing Dipper to jump again. "What the fuck is his problem?" 

"You haven't heard?" Sora called from the other end of the hallway. In his hands he held a sheet of paper. "Turns out he didn't get the part he wanted." Dipper groans, realizing that he had walked away from one blast zone and into another. Yuya and Iggy's rivalry was well known in the theater class...or any class, really. Yuya wasn't the problem, it was mostly Iggy. He had a super competitive nature that drove everyone up the wall. Everyone, but Yuya. 

"Iggy does realize that he can't be the main character in every play, right?" Almost as if to answer his question something heavy hits the door, probably a chair, causing the door to rattle. Dipper scoots back for just in case. 

"Oh, Iggy doesn't want to be the main character." Sora pops his lollipop out of his mouth. "He wanted the role of the spirit partner." Dipper was now confused. 

"I thought Iggy couldn't stand being near Yuya." Suddenly, the dresser room's door flies open, revealing the beast within.

"THE ONLY ONE I CAN'T STAND IS THAT WANNABE KNIGHT!" It took Dipper a moment to realize who Iggy was talking about.

"You mean Yuto?" The sound of the name caused Iggy to snap his head towards Dipper. Dipper freeze, feeling like a mouse caught in a lion's den.

"Hey Iggy!" Dennis said cheerfully, jumping between the two. "Let's go to the dojo." The boy threw his arm around the beast's shoulders and began to lead him away. "Keeping in all that stress isn't good for you." Dipper waited until he couldn't hear their voices anymore before slowly turning towards Sora.

"S-seriously, why does he have so much beef with Yuto all of a sudden?" 

"Oh wow. You really don't know then, huh?" 

"Know...what?" Sora grins at him.

"Did you ever wonder why Iggy is so competitive with Yuya of all people?" Dipper shakes his head, not sure where this conversation was going. "Well, let's just say that Iggy doesn't like it very much when he doesn't have Yuya's attention." 

"Attention? What does that even mean?" Sora shrugs and begins walking away.

"Man, you're just as dense as Yuya. How do you even have a girlfriend?"

"H-hey!" Dipper yelps. "What is **that** suppose to mean?!"


	18. Wingman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Bardshipping (Lulu Obsidian x Sylvio Sawatari)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because a bard is a type of traveling entertainer that focuses on writing and sharing songs, like Sylvio's entertainment/theater troupe cards and Lulu's “lyric” archetype. “Bard” can also sound similar to “bird,” like Lulu's bird theme.

"Hello and welcome to Lancers! I'll be your waiter for this evening. Can I start you guys off with some drinks?" The group's tomato haired waiter asked. On his black suit, a silver name tag read - Yuya. 

"Just water for me." Zuzu answers.

"Lemonade, please." Sora sets his menu to the side. 

"Gong would take an iced tea, thank you." Gong nods. Yuya writes down the orders with a smile. 

"And for you, sir?" Yuya turns to Sylvio, but he seem to be transfix by something in the distance. Curious, Yuya followed his gaze to another table which sat a young lady with long purple hair. She was dressed in a cream and white colored gown and was reading from a rather large novel. In front of her was a salad that she had ordered. Lulu Obsidian was one of the restaurant's regulars and Yuya knew her very well. She came in with brother from time to time, but she usually came in by herself.

"Sylvio." Zuzu hissed at her friend. "Stop staring. You look like a weirdo." Sylvio blinked and shook himself out of his trance.

"What? Huh?" 

"Your drink...sir?" Yuya asked again.

"Oh, uhh....j-just a water will be fine." Yuya wrote it down and nodded.

"Alright then. I'll be right back." When Yuya came back with their drinks Sylvio had went back to staring at the girl again. 

"Sylvio, quit it with the staring. You're making our waiter think you're a stalker." Sora pointed out as Yuya set down their drinks.

"I am not!" Sylvio quickly protested, his face red.

"Oh, I wasn't thinking that at all." Yuya said, honestly. 

"Gong apologizes on his friend's behalf. He isn't usually this creepy." Gong whispers to Yuya, which Sylvio heard.

"Apologize for what?! I'm not even doing anything! S-she just happens to be sitting there! That isn't my fault!" Sylvio crosses his arms and huffs like a child which causes Zuzu to shake her head.

"He's been crushing on that poor girl for months now." She explains to Yuya.

"Oh, I see." Yuya nods. 

"Don't tell him that!" Sylvio shouts. Luckily, the restaurant wasn't really busy during this time of the day, and Lulu looked too preoccupied with her book to really notice the other table. 

"Sylvio, if you like her that much why don't you tell her?" Sora questions. 

"Oh, as if it was that easy." Sylvio mutters sourly. "Don't you think I've tried!"

"Well, can we order now? I'm starving." Zuzu says, opening up her menu. Yuya took the group's orders and went back to the kitchen. Once their food was ready Yuya brought it out, carrying it all on a silver tray.

"Finally!" Sora's mouth waters at the sight of his ice cream sundae, which the boy insisted on ordering first despite Zuzu's protests. 

"Will that be all?" Yuya asks the group once everyone had their food. 

"Yeah, that girl's phone number." Sylvio says glumly, jerking his head in Lulu's direction. Obviously, it was meant to be a sad joke. Nothing more. 

But there was a reason Yuya was one of the Lancers' best servers....

* * *

"Excuse me, Ms. Lulu?" Lulu looked up from her book to see Yuya standing beside her. 

"Yuya, you don't have to be so formal with me, you know." Lulu smiles.

"Sorry, but I sort of have this odd request."

"Oh?" 

"Yeah. You see that guy over there?" Yuya points to Sylvio's table. "The one with the blonde hair? Well, he asked me if I could get your phone number for him." 

"He...did?" 

"Uh-huh. He seems like a good guy. A little on the weird side, but that should make things interesting, right?" Lulu covers her mouth with her hand to stop her giggles from escaping. Lulu recognized him as the Theater teacher at the school she worked at. She didn't know him personally but she has seem him often enough.

"Yes. You are right. Yuya, may I borrow your pen and pad? I have a special request."

* * *

"And that's how our waiter became my wingman." Sylvio finishes the story with a clap of his hands. The classroom of students gave their teacher mostly odd looks. A few looked impress that their goofball of a teacher could even land a date with Ms. Obsidian, the English teacher.

"You have the weirdest life stories, Mr. Sawatari." One of his male students, Tate, deadpans.


	19. Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Beamshipping (Ray Akaba x Yuya Sakaki)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because to “beam” means to smile brightly, and also can mean a “ray or shaft of light”, being both a reference to Yuya’s goal of making everyone smile, and a synonym for the word “ray.”

At first, Ray didn't know where she was. Everything was so white. She had trouble seeing. Just as she was about to look away, a figure began to form in front of her, their body glowing a pink aura. 

"H-hello?" Ray calls out, hesitantly.

"Ray." The figure spoke. She sounded feminine. She sounded....like her.

"Do I...know you?" Ray feels like she should know who this person was. Even without a face. This figure seem very important. But Ray's mind kept on drawing up a blank. 

"You did, but you won't soon."

"What do you mean?" The figure sounded sad, but also...happy?

"The dimensions....this universe....they're fusing back into one. Due to Riley's sacrifice, Zarc is sealed away and Yuya will be reborn. And you....you will be reborn as well." Ray was confused. She didn't....understand. Zarc? Riley? Who were those people?

But the aura was beginning to fade. Everything was beginning to grow dark.

"Ray, please. Take care of him." 

"W-wait! What are you-?" 

* * *

"Ray, time to wake up!" Her father's voice brings Ray to the waking world. Sitting up, Ray gazed around her room. What kind of dream was that? Wait...what was it about? Did she...dream at all? "Ray? Are you up?!" Her father calls again. 

"Yeah, dad! I'm up!" His daughter shouts a reply. Ray throws off her covers. Now wasn't the time to be worrying about elusive dreams. She had to get ready for duel school. After getting dressed and putting her hair up into their signature pigtails Ray was just about to rush out when she spotted a white paper fan in the corner of her room. On the bottom an orange fruit was craved into it. 

Where did this come from?

Ray thought for a moment. Why was it in her room? A few more seconds and the answer came to her.

Oh, right. It was her's. Grabbing the white fan and throwing it into her bag, Ray raced downstairs.

"Dad, please try not to burn the waffles this time!" Ray shouted, smelling the familiar burnt dough. 

* * *

Ray looked up at the clock, frowning as the seconds ticked by. The You Show kids were sitting at the table, sorting through their decks and her father was off collecting some paperwork, leaving her to discipline the tardy student. Behind her, Ray could hear the elevator rolling up. She waited as the doors opened up and Yuya jumped in, smiling.

"Made it! With time to spare!" He remarks.

"Nope." Ray lands a hit with her fan on Yuya's head. 

"Ow! What was that for?!" Yuya demands, glaring at her. Ray rolls her eyes.

"You **were** late. By two minutes." 

"Aww, come on, Ray!" Yuya complains. "Two minutes isn't that big of a deal." 

"No excuses, Yuya!" Allie joined in. "Maybe if you had set your alarm clock, you wouldn't have gotten clonked." As the You Show students joked around with Yuya Ray couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with this picture. She gazed around the room for a moment, finding nothing out of place. Her eyes then fell on Yuya. 

Her childhood friend. 

Was he the problem? But how could that be? Her and Yuya have been friends since they were babies. What was her problem today? It was like she was walking in somebody else's shoes and didn't even know about it! 

"Uhh...Ray? Ray!" Yuya shouts, causing Ray to blink a few times.

"S-sorry. What was that?" Yuya frowned for a moment. 

"Weren't you listening? Tate and the others want to have tag team duel. Us verse them." Ray could see the kids getting their decks together out of the corner of her eye.

"O-oh, okay. Sounds fun!" She smiles, Yuya's frown persisted. 

"Ray, are you alright? You've been acting weird." 

"Who? Me? I'm fine." Ray waved away her friend's concern. "I'm just hoping you can keep up with me this time." She teased, causing Yuya to smirk.

"No need to worry about that!"

"Yuya! Ray! What are you two waiting for?!" Tate calls. The three of them were already inside the elevator.

"Yeah, come on!" Frederick added.

"We're ready to go!" Allie nods.

"Let's go then! Come on, Ray!" Yuya grabbed her hand and began to pull her alongside him. Ray chased after him, the slightest hint of pink on her cheeks. Now this. Ray held Yuya's hand tightly. 

This felt familiar.


	20. Love in a Birdcage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Birdcageshipping (Celina x Crow Hogan)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because both of them have been caged and under close watch of their superiors (Celina under Leo Akaba’s rule and Crow under the societal views of the Commons and Tops). The bird comes from the fact that Crow’s name is a type of bird.

Celina impatiently drummed her fingers on the windowsill. Why was he always late? Giving up on staring at freedom in the face with no way out Celina got up and laid back down on her bed. 

She could smell the fresh night air as the wind blew through her window. In all honesty, Celina was a little bit worried for him. The Professor had recently buffed up security. Did he get caught?

Celina shook her head at herself and turned over in her bed, facing the plain wall. He was too good to be caught. They have been doing this for months now. After a few minutes Celina closed her eyes, trying to dream of a future far away from this hell hole. A future where she could be together with him, without the fear of having to sneak around or worry about his safety every second of the day. 

"Hey." A soft voice whispered, close to her ear. Celina's eyes flew open and she flung her fist back, only to have it caught. She quickly twisted around, but relaxed when she saw steel gray eyes staring back at her. "Whoa! Calm down. It's me." He let go of her fist, allowing her to sit up.

"I didn't hear you come in, Crow." Celina wasn't sure if 'Crow' was his real name or not, but regardless, this is what she called him. She stood up alongside Crow who had been crouching by her bedside. He wore a dark hood over his clothes and hair to blend into the darkness better. Out of sheer instinct, Celina reached up and pulled down his hood to reveal his spiky orange hair. 

It was such a bright color and that's what Celina loved about it. Being stuck in this prison with only the gray walls to look at, seeing any other color is a treat to her. 

"Sorry, I didn't think you would mind." Crow reaches for her hand, intertwining their fingers together. Despite having been traveling in the cold, his hand was warm. 

"I don't." Celina replied curtly. Crow smiles at her, soft and warm. 

"I have some great news. Declan manage to convince King Kite of Xyz to help us storm the castle." Celina blinked in shock.

"H-he did?!" Crow quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. Footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. 

When the guard open the door he was met by a drowsy Celina, curled up in her bed. She glared at the guard, her green eyes hard with discontentment. 

"What do you want now?" Celina growled. The guard paid the prisoner no mind, instead looking up towards the open window. Celina followed his gaze and swallowed hard. "I...I was hot so I open the window." The guard didn't say anything, instead walking over to the window and looking out. Celina held her breath. It felt like hours before the guard was finally satisfied and closed the window, locking it. Celina silently let out a sigh of relief. 

"Can't even have my window open?" Celina mutters. "What the hell does Leo think I'm gonna do? Jump out to my death?" The guard still remains silent as ever, shutting her door while putting the locks back into place. Celina wants to go to the window, but she forces herself to wait until the footsteps of the guard are completely gone. 

Once he is gone, Celina jumps out of bed and runs to the window, quietly opening them. As soon as she does, a black crow lands on the sill, staring up at her with its beady black eyes. Celina smiles, both happy and sad. Happy to see her love safe but sad to see him off so soon. His transformation didn't last long. It was why it was such a big risk for him to see her. One wrong move, no matter how small, could kill him or even worse....

Celina shutters at the thought of what Leo would do to Crow if he knew about him. With that nightmarish thought, Celina gently ran a finger down her beloved's feathers once before shooing him off the sill.

"You should go, before your transformation wears off." She whispers. Crow kept his gaze locked on her's. Even though she couldn't understand him in this form, Celina already knew that he was promising her that he would get her out. So that they could be free. Celina nods.

"I know. Good luck. And stay safe." With that, the crow took off, back into the night. Celina stayed where she was, watching the tiny bird grow smaller and smaller until he was no more.


	21. Bittersweet End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Bittersweetshipping (Shay Obsidian x Yuya Sakaki x Sora Perse)
> 
> Name Reason: Named as such because Shay is bitter (or at least he looks pretty bitter), Sora is sweet (and he likes sweets) and Yuya’s constantly switching between happy (sweet) and sad (bitter) emotions.

Zuzu slowly walks out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but her cheeks were dry. Lulu walked over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder but Zuzu just shakes her head. Shay waits for the door to open again, but it doesn't. 

Shay gives it a little more time.

Still nothing. 

"Shay?" Lulu whispers to him. Shay looks up. "You should go in. Talk to him." She nods at the door. Honestly, Shay didn't want to go back into that room. He had already saw him once and it took everything Shay had to not start bawling like a child. "Shay." Lulu repeated again, knowing her brother's hesitation. "He needs you too. You've been quiet for too long." Shay sighed, approaching the door and slowly turning the knob.

When he poke his head inside, Shay could see Yuya, his lifeless body still laying in the hospital bed. Sitting in a chair, beside the bed, was Sora. Like Zuzu, his eyes were red and puffy from crying, his cheeks still mark with dried up tear tracks that he hadn't bother to wipe away. Shay felt his heart break for the second time that day. He shuts the door behind him and stands by Sora's side, staring down at Yuya's face. If he didn't know better, he would have guess that Yuya was sleeping, and technically, he was just sleeping. 

It's just that no one knows when he is going to wake up. 

He has been like this since Zarc was defeated. Lulu and her counterparts were fine. Each of them waking up in their home dimension, but not Yuya. Yuya was found in the Fusion Dimension by Sora and Aster. And unlike the girls, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri were nowhere to be found. Declan theorized that Yuya, for some reason, didn't split apart. He thinks it may have been something Riley had caused when she absorbed Zarc and released Ray. 

Shay wanted to blame Riley for this mess, but he knew he couldn't. Zarc was going to be reborn and Riley thought that sealing him would fix the problem. Nobody knew that it would end up turning Riley into an infant and putting Yuya into a coma. 

"We were suppose to go home together..."

It was the first time Sora had spoken to Shay once Yuya's condition was announced. 

"He told me...that..." Sora choked on his words. Shay could see his tears free falling. "...everything was going to be fine." Sora brought his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly. "Why...why did I let him face Yuri alone?" 

"Sora, you were hurt. There wasn't anything..."

"I SHOULD HAVE BEATEN YURI!" Sora suddenly screech, much to Shay's shock. "IF I HAD BEATEN YURI, HE WOULDN'T HAVE CARDED YUYA'S FATHER! THEN YUYA WOULDN'T HAVE HAD A REASON TO DUEL HIM!"

"Sora..." Shay tried to step forward to calm him, but Sora jerk his head up to fix him with a stare full of rage. Not at him, but at himself.

"OR EVEN ZARC! IF I HAD JUST BEATEN EITHER OF THEM, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPEN! RILEY WOULDN'T HAVE USED THE EN CARDS AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT! BUT NO! I WAS TOO FUCKING WEAK!"

"Don't talk about yourself like that-!"

"Don't give me that bullshit! Everyone knows it! That's why you hate me!" Sora's yelling had decrease in volume, but not by much. 

"Hate...you?" Shay echos. Lulu was right. He has been quiet for too long.

"And of course you do! Why **wouldn't** you hate me?! I've been nothing but horrible to you ever since we met! Yuya was literally the only reason why you even tolerated me!" 

"How dare you..." Shay growled, his angry rising. He knew that Sora was only saying these things because he was deeply hurting. But so was he! "How dare you assume how **I** feel."

"Well, excuse me." Sora scoff in a childish tone. "It's not like you did a very good job of hiding it. You wouldn't even talk to me-"

"That's because I **wanted** to give you space! Hell, **I** needed space after everything that has happen!" Catching another sight of Yuya, Shay forced himself to calm down. Regardless of the reason, Yuya wouldn't want them yelling at each other like this. "I'm sorry I made you feel like that, Sora. And I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you that I forgave you. I forgave you the moment you saved Zuzu's life, back in the Synchro Dimension. Both me and Yuya." 

"B-but I took away your home, and your sister, and because I wasn't strong enough...Yuya too..." 

"Okay, you're giving yourself way too much credit." Shay said, shaking his head. " **You** didn't take away my home. Leo did. **You** didn't take away my sister. Leo did. And you're not the only one who failed against Zarc. **All** of us failed to defeat Zarc, not just you." Shay grabbed a nearby chair, pulling it up beside Sora's chair and sitting down. "It wasn't anyone's fault. None of us could have predicted that 'this' would happen to Yuya. Just as good things happen to bad people, bad things happen to good people. We can't control it. The only thing we can do is keep our future bright-"

"-and our smiles shining." Sora finish, wiping his eyes. This was something Yuya would tell them all the time when things got tough. Shay gives Sora a small smile, before wrapping his arm around his shoulder. Sora leaned into his touch, his anger gone, but now replaced with sadness.

"I miss him, Shay." 

"I know, Sora. Me too." 

* * *

Shay was awoken by a nurse. His neck and back ached from his sitting position, but he couldn't move. Sora had also fallen asleep on his shoulder and too much movement could wake him.

"Sir, visiting hours will be ending soon." The nurse whisper quietly. Shay nods in understanding. 

"I understand. We'll go." As the nurse began to get Yuya ready for bed, Shay gently nudge Sora awake. "Sora. Sora, come on. We gotta go." Sora slowly blinked open his eyes, letting out a massive yawn. Shay looked out the window to see that it was dark, the star already twinkling. It was probably around 8 or 9. "Visiting hours are closing. We have to go." 

"Oh....alright." Sora stood up as Shay stretched, trying to get the kink out of his neck and back. Sora reached over, grabbing Yuya's hand. "I promise, we'll visit you again soon, Yuya. Get better, okay?" Shay placed his hand on top of Sora's, gently squeezing the two together.

"Stay strong, Yuya. And don't worry about us. I'll keep an eye on the little gremlin until you wake up." Shay said, smirking as Sora huffed at him.

"I'm not a gremlin!"

"Sure, whatever you say." Before Sora could launch into a tangent, the nurse quietly interrupts them. 

"Uhh...sirs, I'm sorry but you must leave soon." She points at her watch on her wrist. "All visitors must be gone by 8:05." 

"Yes, of course." Shay leans forward and presses a light kiss to Yuya's forehead. "Good night, Yuya." Sora does the same.

"Night, Yuya." He murmurs. Taking Sora's hand into his own, Shay guides them out of the room. The hospital was deathly quiet and the hallways were nearly empty except for the occasional nurse or late night doctor. Shay check his duel disk to see that his sister had texted him, having left hours prior. She said she saw that they had fallen asleep and didn't want to disturb them. She also texted again, a few minutes ago, saying that she had dinner waiting for him and Sora at home.

"Lulu made dinner while we were gone. Hope you like vegetable stew as much as you like sweets." Shay said causally. Sora looked up at him, startled.

"Dinner? For me?"

"Is there something wrong?" 

"No, no." Sora said, shaking his head. "I guess I just...didn't expect it, is all." 

Sora was silent for a moment, but Shay already knew the question was coming.

"Can we get some dessert too?" 

"Nothing too sweet." 

"Chocolate cake!" Shay lets out another sigh.

"Fine."

"Yes!"


	22. Night Rides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Blackbirdshipping (Crow Hogan x Shay Obsidian)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because they both use bird archetypes, the “kuro” in Kurosaki means black, Crow’s deck specifically is a Black Feather deck, and crows are black.

Shay woke up, screaming. 

It was loud enough to wake up the whole house.

Crow was the first to reach his door. He quietly open it, gently easing the door open so as to not startle the male even more.

"Shay? Are you alright?" Crow spoke softly. Shay didn't answer, sitting up in his bed, his hands pressed over his ears as if he was trying to block out screams that no one else could hear. 

"Crow, is Shay okay?" A hushed voice asked. Crow turned to see Amanda, Tarren, and Frank in the hallway. All of them were still dressed in their pajamas, probably jerked awake by Shay's nightmare.

"Don't worry, ya little Jackals. I'll take care of him. You three should get back to bed."

"But Crow!" Tarren whines, rubbing his eyes. "What about Shay?! He needs us!" 

"I know you three mean well, but we talked about this. Shay is going through a difficult time right now and too many people can really stress him out."

"But-"

"No buts. You heard Crow." Shinji had appear, his hair still a mess from rolling out of bed. "Come on, all of you, back to bed." Shinji began to usher the kids back to their room. "We can check on Shay in the morning. For now, let Crow handle this." Crow gives his best friend a grateful nod before turning his attention back to the room. He step quietly inside, cautiously approaching the Xyzian. 

"Shay?" Crow called, calmly placing a hand on his shoulder. For a while, Shay didn't move. Crow realized that he was doing the breathing exercises his therapist had instructed him to use. He waited patiently for Shay to finish. Slowly, his breathing became normal and he open his eyes. His eyes were watery and his face was still a bit pale.

"Another nightmare?" Crow asked. Shay didn't bother to answer, even if he wanted to deny it. "Come on." Crow pulled him up so that Shay was standing. "Get dressed. Let's go for a ride." Before Shay could argue, Crow left the room to get himself ready. 

* * *

Crow lead the way through the streets, the only sounds were the hums of their engines as they drove. Occasionally Crow would glance back to make sure Shay was still with him.

Shay had moved to the Synchro Dimension a little more than a year ago. It was a shock to everyone when Shay announced that he was moving. It seem to have came out of nowhere. Honestly, it wasn't at all a big surprise to Crow. Even though the war had ended and the Xyz Dimension was back to its beautiful state Shay never seem able to smile anymore. And considering all that had happen, it made sense as to why Shay would chose the Synchro Dimension of all places. 

Xyz had too many memories and was one of the symptoms of his silent pain. The Standard Dimension was the other symptom, mainly because of Yuya and Zuzu. Of course, the two didn't know and that wasn't their fault. And Shay understood that. Poor guy. He fought so hard in the war, only for him to still lose. 

The Fusion Dimension was out of the question for obvious reasons, so that just left the Synchro Dimension. Shay was planning on living alone, but Crow couldn't allow him to do that. It was easy enough, changing the storage room into a bedroom. Shay seem right at room. The children were excited to have Shay around and Shinji was grateful for the extra set of hands, although weary at first. 

But then, the nightmares started. At first, no one knew about them. The only clue was that Shay seem to always be very tired every morning. It was only until Shay started waking up screaming that his secret was out. It took a lot of talking, but finally, Crow manage to push Shay to see a therapist.

It was a long, slow going process but Crow knew that trauma wasn't something that just...went away. Healing took time. And Crow swore to himself and to Shay that he was going to be there for him every step of the way. 

As they rode, Crow could see the tension leaving Shay's face. Driving through the darken, quiet streets of the city with the cold wind in your face. It was relaxing and serene. Crow figured out pretty quickly that driving their D-Wheelers seem to bring Shay peace, at least for a time. Another thing they had in common. 

After doing a few laps around the neighborhood, Crow called back to Shay.

"You ready to head home?!" 

"Yeah!" Shay shouts, over their bikes' engines. They pulled back into the house's garage. Shay pulled off his helmet and Crow noted that he looked much more like himself. 

"Feel better?" Crow asked as he was setting his own helmet down. 

"Yeah." Shay's voice was quiet. "Sorry, about waking you guys up." 

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Crow assured. "We care about you, Shay, and no one should ever have to go through this alone." A small smile crosses Shay's face. It was tiny, but filled with warmth. 

"Thank you." 

"Anytime, Shay. Anytime."


	23. Break Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Blinkshipping (Yugo x Yuya Sakaki x Zuzu Boyle)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because when Zuzu and Yugo tried to approach Yuya, Zuzu’s bracelet started to blink.

A loud frantic knocking sounded at Zuzu's door at around 11 at night. Confused and groggily, the young healer quickly threw on her silk pink robe and slippers and headed down, her way guided by candlelight. She undid the locks and open the wooden door and was shocked by what she saw.

"Prince-? I mean, King Yuya?" Zuzu quickly corrected herself. It was hard calling her friend by his official title even though the crowning ceremony had only been a few days ago. 

"Z-Zuzu..." Yuya manages to speak. Even in the darkness, Zuzu could see the tears in his eyes. 

"King Yuya, what's wrong?" Realizing how cold it was, Zuzu usher her friend inside while shutting the door. 

"P-Please, just call me Yuya. I can't...I can't...handle this anymore." Yuya hiccup. 

"Yuya..."

One word to describe Yuya's life right now? Stressful. It all started about a week ago, with the death of his mother. With the Queen dead and with Yuya being their only heir, Yuya was to take up the crown. At the age of 14. 

Everyone thinks that being the King is easy. That all you have to do is sit on the throne and have others wait on your hand and foot. That was not true in the slightest. There were meetings to attend, paperwork to read and sign, officials to meet, and Yuya hasn't even completed all of his training so he still had many things to learn, from speaking and understanding different languages to something as simple as dancing. 

The boy barely had time to mourn over his mother before his duties of king were forced onto him. 

As much as Zuzu wish she could, there wasn't much she could do for him. Except be there for him when he needed a break from the world. 

"Here, sit." Zuzu guides Yuya to her couch. "I'll make us some drinks." 

"Could you make it three cups, please?" Yuya called as Zuzu enter the kitchen. 

"Sure thing. Should I be expecting someone?" Zuzu asked, even though she already knew who it was. 

"Yugo." Yuya answered. "I think he might be here soon." Of course it would be Yugo, the impulsive short tempered squire. Just as she got done with the drinks, another set of rapid knocking sounded at her door. From the nature of the knock, Zuzu knew it had to be Yugo.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Zuzu called as she raced up to the door. Before she could even get the door fully open, Yugo pushed his way inside. The boy was still dressed in his night clothes except his faithful blade, which he nicknamed 'Clear Wing', was strapped to his side. 

"Yuya, you here?!" Yugo called into the house.

"Yugo! You came!" 

"Of course I did!" Zuzu shut the door behind him, smacking the back of Yugo's head as she walked past him. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?!" 

"Next time, don't barge into my home. You're a squire for Slifer's sake. Act like it." Zuzu knew Yugo was sticking his tongue out at her, but she decided not to address it. Right now, Yuya was priority. She return to see Yuya and Yugo sitting on the couch next to each other, with Yuya's head leaning on Yugo's shoulder.

Zuzu sets the tray of drinks down on the table, before taking a seat on Yugo's other side.

"I hope you didn't get into too much trouble with Sir Jack." Yuya mumbles quietly.

"I didn't." Yugo responds, taking two cups of hot chocolate and handing one to Yuya. 

"Really?" Zuzu couldn't help but ask. It wasn't like Jack to let Yugo off so lightly if he had done something wrong, especially if it had something to do with Yuya like she thought.

"Well, honestly I ran away before he could yell at me..."

"Yugo!" Both Yuya and Zuzu groaned while Yugo just chuckled.

"It's no big deal! Really! The worse Jack is gonna make me do is scrub the horse stables from top to bottom, like last time." 

"But I don't like it when you get in trouble!"

"Yuya, I told you. It's fine." Yugo takes a sip from his cup. "You needed this right now, and if those guys can't understand that then...then....they're just idiots!" Zuzu finally understood what was going on.

"Yuya, is Declan pushing you too hard again?"

"No!"

"Yes!" 

It was rare of Zuzu to believe Yugo over Yuya but judging by their expressions, it was clear to see who was in the right. 

"He's only doing that because he needs too." 

"No he isn't!" Yugo protested, nearly spilling his drink. "You're a person! Not some lesson driven robot! The guy is way too strict and a jerk to boot!" Yuya lowers his head guiltily.

"But he has to be..." Zuzu sets her cup to the side before reaching across Yugo to clasp her hands over Yuya's who was still holding his cup. 

"Yuya, I know you want to be the best king you can be for your people, but over stressing yourself isn't going to do anyone any good. No matter what Declan says."

"But a kingdom is only as good as their king." Yuya recites. Zuzu squeezes Yuya's hands gently.

"And a king is only as good as their smile. Isn't that what your father used to say?"

"Zuzu's right, Yuya. I haven't seen you smile in like...forever!" Yugo slides a hand behind Yuya to place it on his shoulder "And we haven't hang out like this in forever forever!" 

"I...I know. You guys are right." Yuya's eyes began tearing up again. "I-I miss spending time with you guys but...everything is so difficult and I have to get it right, because the Fusion Kingdom might start another war again and I don't want that to happen. And if I don't want that to happen I have to know the exact thing to say or do or another war will start-" Zuzu covered Yuya's mouth with her hand, silencing his ramblings.

"Yuya, calm down. You don't have to worry about that stuff right now. This is your break time. Your relaxation. Now, I'm gonna take my hand off your mouth and when I do I don't want to hear anymore politics, lessons, or any of the sort come from your mouth, okay?" Yuya silently nods and Zuzu removes her hand. 

Yuya blinks for a few minutes before letting out a tired yawn and leaning back into Yugo's shoulder, finally taking a sip of his hot chocolate. Zuzu decided to follow Yuya's example and lean back onto Yugo's other shoulder. The knight in training didn't mind, perfectly content with having his two closest friends by his sides.

The trio laid together for a few peaceful minutes, basking in the warmth of one another. It was so peaceful in fact, that Yuya had fallen asleep. His cup nearly slipping out of his hands if it wasn't for Yugo catching it in time. 

Unfortunately, there was another knock at the door. This one was more quiet and calm. Yugo lets out an annoyed sigh as Zuzu stood up to answer it. 

She wasn't surprised to see Declan when she open the door, with Sir Jack and Crow behind him. 

"Lady Zuzu." Declan greeted calmly.

"Declan." Zuzu also greeted, not bothering to use his title. Was that impolite? Yes. But Zuzu didn't care. 

"I'm sure you know why we're here." 

"Of course." Zuzu turned around to get the King, but Yuya and Yugo were already coming up behind her. Yuya's face had a clear look of defeat on it while Yugo glared at Declan, not hiding his emotions. 

"I'm sorry I ran off during your Xyz lesson. I was just....so tired." Yuya spoke, rubbing his eyes. "And I just wanted to see my friends again...we haven't been together in a long time." Declan stares at the trio, his gaze unreadable. Finally, he lets out his own sigh.

"It...has come to my attention that perhaps I've been asking a bit too much of you, my King."

"You're dang right you have!" Yugo shouted.

"Yugo, zip it!" Zuzu elbows him. 

"I will rework your lesson schedule. I'll give you more free time for you to do with it as you wish. However, no more of this 'running away' nonsense." Yuya's eyes brightens immediately.

"Y-yes! Of course!" 

"And you." Jack addresses Yugo. "I'm certain I don't have to tell you what you did wrong." 

"Yeah. Yeah. Horse stables. I got it." Yugo groans. 

"Now that we got all that sorted out, may we please return to the castle? The others are quite worried about you, King Yuya." Declan gestures at their home. Yuya nods.

"Oh, right!" Yuya turns back to Zuzu to hug her. "Thanks for everything, Zuzu!" 

"It's nothing, Yuya. I'll see you later then." 

"Yeah. Night!"

"Bye Zuzu!" Yugo waved before leaving. "Once I'm done cleaning that stable, I'll visit you tomorrow!" He promises.

Zuzu watches them go, relieved to know that everything had worked out and that things would be better going forward.


	24. A Tiny Mix Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Blizzardshipping (Rin x Shay Obsidian)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because blizzards are cold, harsh, and intense. The same can be said about Shay’s personality and demeanor and Rin’s deck theme and dueling tactics. 

_"Rin's mental dairy, Day 12....I think. So I've been trap in this stupid tower with nothing to do except sleep and stare at the wall. I still don't know what these people want with me, but I'm probably gonna die of boredom before anything else."_

Rin's thought process was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. Rin stood up from her bed, a bit confused. Were they serving her dinner already? And why were they running? Then she heard voices.

"Wait, Shay! The second door will most likely be locked! You need the key from-!"

Suddenly the metal door flew open to reveal a tall young man with straight blueish-black hair that falls to his chin, and light green bangs partially tucked under some strands on the left. He wore a blue trench coat that had clearly seen better days with belted cuffs, gray pants and brown shoes.

"Or just knock it down with brute force. That works too..."

Behind him, another male had appear. He had gray hair and dark blue eyes, and unlike the other he wore a clean silver suit with black shoes. 

As soon as their eyes meet the first man raced over to her, arms outstretch, a smile gracing his lips. So Rin reacted as anyone would when a random stranger tries to hug you.

Rin winds up to punch his handsome face, but he had quicker reflexes than Yugo and quickly dodge the punch. The shock was very clear in his eyes, but Rin ignored it and brought back her knee to knee him in the stomach. Reacting once more, he jumps back out of range. 

He shock had now turned to anger.

"What the hell are you trying to do?!"

"Well, excuse me! I don't know what kind of girl you take me for, but I am not going to allow some stranger to hug me, no matter how handsome you may look!"

The man now looked more confused. The boy with gray hair also mirror the same look.

"Uhh...looks like she isn't happy to see you, Shay." 

"Happy?" Rin echoes. "Why would I? I don't know him." 

"Lulu, what are you talking about? It's me, Shay." 

"Lulu? I'm Rin."

"Wait...what?"

"My name is Rin." 

The man named Shay turned back to his companion.

"Aster, explain." 

"I...I don't know. I could have sworn that-" Dark blue eyes suddenly lit up with realization. "Ohhh....I think I know what happen. I think I might have gotten the towers mixed up." 

Shay stared back at Rin, before shaking his head.

"Shit. Then where is she?" 

"If she isn't in this tower then she's at the other one. Just on the other side of this island." 

"Then lets go." Shay began to leave, but before he did he stop and looked back over at Rin. "You coming or what?"

"How heroic." Rin said, rolling her eyes. Despite her tone, she was quite grateful to be able to leave the tower, following Shay down the steps to the ground floor. "So am I going to get a proper introduction from you two or what?"

"Oh! Our bad! My name is Aster and that guy over there, is Shay. Sorry for the confusion. You look a lot like someone we're trying to rescue."

"So you rescued me on accident?" 

"Kind of? D-don't look at me like that! I just got the towers mixed up is all!"

"What...do you mean?"

"Yugo was suppose to go to the east tower." Shay answers.

"Yugo's here?!"

"Well, he would be if Aster knew his east from his west."

"In my defense, the Professor never directly told me which tower the girls were in. I heard about the towers through the other students."

"So if Yugo is at this 'west tower' then looks like I'm sticking with you guys for awhile." 

"I suppose you are." 

_"Rin's mental diary Day 12 update. I finally got rescued, but not by Yugo. But like I always say back in the Commons, you accept what you are given and you work with what you got. My rescuers aren't 'bad' per say, but one of them looks like a Top. He seems to have a good heart though, I mean why would he rescue me if he didn't? The other is the opposite, looking a little rough around the edges, but in a 'cute' way, I suppose. I think I'm in good hands. For now, at least."_


	25. Curse of the Blue Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ship Name: Bluemoonshipping (Celina x Moon Shadow)
> 
> Name Reason: Named so because a blue moon is two full moons in the same month, Moon Shadow has blue clothing, and has the name moon shadow, while Celina uses a moon deck.

"What do you mean the moon is blue?!"

"The moon is fucking blue, Apollo! What more do you want me to tell you?!" Diana yelled into her duel disk at her brother, who was on the other end. It was times such as this that Diana wish Apollo didn't live on the other side of the globe. 

It was suppose to be a perfect day. Perfect because it was special. Her daughter, Celina, was going to get married today. Diana had dreamed of this day for months now, ever since Kev Ravenwood asked her to let him marry Celina which Diana immediately agree too. 

Of course, Celina was more than a bit 'upset' when her mother told her the news, but honestly, how long did Celina expect her to wait? According to tradition, a moon child was to be married by the age of 13. Celina was 14 now! Some of the town folks were beginning to think that Celina was cursed! And Diana absolutely refuse to let that happen! However, the moon spirits weren't making it easy.

Diana glanced up at the full moon that was above her. Following tradition, moon children were wed underneath a full moon. The problem was, the moon was no longer bright yellow but rather a deep blue color. This was odd and frightening, even more so that this strange phenomena decided to happen on her daughter's wedding night. 

Unlike everyone else, Celina didn't seem bother in the slightest.

 _"Maybe the moon spirits don't approve my wedding."_ Celina had said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Diana could hear the scoff in her daughter's tone, knowing that she wasn't being serious. But those words were enough to send everyone into a panic. Everyone left, including the Ravenwoods. Diana highly doubts Kev would be allowed to marry Celina now. Celina didn't care, not that Diana expected her too. After all, she had been against this from the start but Celina didn't seem to understand what this could mean for her later on in life.

She would be consider an outcast in their village, and would be given little chances to make something of herself. 

"Mother, can I change now?" Diana pulled away from the phone to look at her daughter, still dressed in her white gown. Diana chews her lip, gazing back up at the moon.

It was still blue.

"Very well. But be careful with it!" 

"Yeah, yeah." After her daughter had left, Diana continued her call with her brother. 

"Apollo, what could this mean?!" 

"I honestly don't know, Diana. Perhaps there is some truth to Celina's words? Maybe the moon spirits don't approve of the marriage." 

"But why wouldn't they? The Ravenwoods are one of the most highly respected families in the village!" 

"Well, if you have a better explanation then I would love to hear it." Diana sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. I need a drink." 

* * *

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Why would I? She wouldn't listen. I may be fourteen, but to her? I'm still eight." 

Moon Shadow returns his gaze to the moon as Celina's head fell onto his shoulder. It was late, but rather then staying at one of their homes Celina wanted to spend some time outdoors. 

"Even if she won't heed your words, you must say something. The villagers are beginning to worry. The moon hasn't return to its natural color in three days."

"So what?" Celina mutters. "I think it looks better like that." Celina turns her head to bury her nose in the light blue scarf wrapped around his neck. Moon Shadow furrowed his brows, unsure if he should keep pressing. 

He loved Celina. But sometimes, it could be a chore trying to talk to her.

"If it really 'concerns' you that much, then why don't you talk to my mom?" 

"W-what?" Moon Shadow could barely keep the shock from his voice.

"If Ravenwood could do it, why can't you? We've already establish my mother is never going to listen to me. Maybe she'll listen to someone else." Celina shrugs. By the tone of her voice, Moon Shadow could tell that Celina wasn't serious. It was more of a joke solution if anything. 

But perhaps the solution wasn't as much as a joke as she realized...

**Author's Note:**

> I won't be adding my opinions on the ships unless someone ask for it. Looking back, I feel like that was a dumb idea of mine. Nobody asked for it so why was I putting it out there? Of course, if you want to share your own opinion, then by all means, let me hear it. I love hearing opinions. 


End file.
